Ramming Speed! (Part the Second)

In which our intrepid adventurer encounters the Yellow Peril.

(It should be noted that the potential conflict of interest mentioned last post, while it did manage to throw me off my stride with this blog, did not, in fact, actually come to pass. I had an interview with RAM Brewing. It went nowhere. Such is life.)

Hefeweizen is a highly misunderstood beer. In America, it's generally a very clove-and-banana flavoured, cloudy substance, usually served with lemon. In Germany, it tends to vary a bit more and the lemon is left off. American hefe's are generally not my favourites, mostly because I don't like bananas and the clove flavour, when done badly, reminds me of Band-Aids.

Why does hefe taste like that? Why is it cloudy? Why does it have that odd, slightly thick mouth feel? Two things: Wheat and yeast. Hefe yeast is a different strain to either lager or ale yeast. It ferments at the temperature of ale yeast, not lager yeast. It tends to remain in suspension much longer than either ale or lager yeast, giving part of the cloudy effect seen in hefeweizen. It produces a greater quantity of esters than either. These esters give the characteristic spice-and-fruit scent and flavour that sets hefeweizen apart.

The remainder of the cloudiness and the mouth feel come from the wheat. Unlike barley malt wheat malt has a much higher protein content, which stays in the beer and causes it to be cloudy. It also makes it feel thicker in the mouth, which gives rise to some people thinking that hefe tastes "slimy" or "mucusy".

What does all this have to do with RAM? Well, finally, I get to that part. RAM's hefe is...well, in the middle. It was cloudy and creamy yellow--a promising start, since the light reflecting off the suspended yeast gives the beer a lighter colour than it would normally have. It was fairly highly carbonated--which fits both the traditional Bavarian style and is very common among American beers. The aroma and flavour were fairly similar--lots of phenols/clove aroma, not as much banana as is usually found in American hefeweizen. Not a top of the line Bavarian hefe, but certainly nothing to be ashamed of. (like certain other big US "craft" brewery hefeweizen I've had, once upon a time. But that's another episode.)

Next time: Amber Waves of Grain, or Maillard's Miracle!