1001 Beers

Beer No: 105
Page No: 572
Category: White

Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse is easily one of my favorite Hefewiezens.  So it saddened me so when half way through drinking this beer and reading the Wall Street Journal, a fly landed in it and could not escape.  Such a shame to waste this beer.  My friends all told me to fish out the fly and continue drinking, but I just couldn't do it.  That being said, I still got to drink half of the beer and then went in and started on a new beer - Speakeasy Prohibition Ale - a nice amber, but nothing too special.  Easy to drink and a good representation of the style.

On a side note, I found it pretty funny that just days after BrewDog comes out with the world's strongest beer at 55% and names it "End of History," another brewery, just for fun comes out with a 60% beer and names it "Start the Future."  A fun game of one-upmanship and hilarious product naming.  However, one downside to "Start the Future" is it doesn't come bottled in roadkill...

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier by Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau (InBev)

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 16/20

Rating: 3.8 / 5.0

UPDATED: AUG 1, 2010 Rerate 7/28/2010
Not quite sure what happened with my original rating 8 years ago - maybe I had a bad bottle or something, but since then, Franziskaner has become one of my favorite Hefeweizens. The aroma has a wonderful blend of fruits, spices, yeast, and bananas while the taste is pretty much exactly what a hefe should be. Fruit, cloves, and vanilla all dominate the tasting and blend together perfectly. A truly wonderful hefe.

I’m usually a huge fan of hefeweizens, but this one seemed a bit bland. The color is the usual hazy yellow with a medium sized head. The aroma is slightly fruity and the taste as well, but overall, it seemed weak with a taste that left something to be desired. A refreshing beer, but nothing special - not a stand-out hefe.

Original Rating: 6/4/6/3/13 3.2/5.0 on 10.10.2002

Beer No: 35/1001
Page No: 937
Category: Specialty

Today, a couple of my friends and I went down to the Haven Gastropub for their release of Firestone Walker's Solace - a summer wheat beer.  We arrived early and they were just getting the keg ready, so we had time to kill before we could sample the Solace.  I started with a Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge (a Flemish red sour ale) while my friends each went with the Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA.  As we finished our first round, I noticed Tokyo* on the draught list and ordered a glass to share amongst the table.  Clocking in at 18.2%, it's served as a 6 oz. pour in a sifter.  We passed it around, all marveled at the heavy alcohol aroma, and then dove in.

The Tokyo* was very complex, with strong flavors of bourbon, alcohol, cherries, coffee, and chocolate.  It finishes a bit harsh, but nothing too strange for an 18%er.  Like I say in my review, it was definitely an experience, and I'm glad I at least tried this one, but at $13 for 12oz. bottle, or $11 for a 6oz. pour on tap, it's very expensive and not quite worth it in my opinion.  I always find it funny when a beer like this gets such a high "Overall" rating at Ratebeer.com - it's in the 96th percentile of all beers.  However, it's just in the 48th percentile for Imperial Stouts.  With Imperial Stouts being rated so highly at both RateBeer and BeerAdvocate, it's tough to crack the top there - and even if your beer is better than 96% of all others, over 50% of imperial stouts are better than this.

As for the Firestone Walker Solace, well, after my Rouge and Tokyo*, it was pretty much a let down.  It was easy to drink, but the standard hefe flavors all seemed to be missing.  I didn't get the banana or clove flavors in abundance and just wasn't impressed, unfortunately.  I like Firestone Walker, but it seems like they were just trying to capitalize on a burgeoning market and failed to really put too much effort into this one.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

BrewDog Tokyo* from BrewDog

Aroma: 5/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 13/20

Rating: 3.2 / 5.0

Had on tap at Haven Gastropub. 6 oz. pour, sifter. Poured a dark brown / black with very small tan head and no head retention. Aroma of cherries, oak, coffee, and alcohol - lots of alcohol. The alcohol aroma almost put off one of the other drinkers, but we powered through. The taste is similar to aroma - heavy in alcohol and sweet. Hints of oak, bourbon, chocolate, and coffee. Finishes a bit harsh with alcohol and some lingering fruits. A complex beer that just has too much alcohol that is not well hidden at all. An experience, but no need to repeat.