Hefeweizens are said to have come into being in the early 1500’s, thanks to the breweries of southern Bavaria. And they have remained a staple of the German beer market ever since.
Interestingly, when brewers first started producing Hefeweizens they were not well received and it was because of the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law). You see, the original law only listed three ingredients – water, malt and hops – as yeast was not a known ingredient at the time!
Anyway, back to the beer…a hefeweizen contains at least 50% malted wheat, use a noble bittering hop so there is very little bitterness, are cloudy in appearance and give off big yeast notes of banana and clove. This is the classic wheat beer.
Maltgarden have offered their take on the style and the aroma screams hefe. Big yeasty aroma of banana and spice. To taste, it is quite sweet up front and that sweetness does continue all the way through. About midway a little grassy bitterness joins in and the carbonation leaves a tingle on the tongue.