TheBeerObserver

My summer long quest for hefeweizen hit pay dirt, ironically, on the final day of summer. I tweeted about the release of Sierra Nevada Kellerweis back in June on the day it first shipped, but didn't actually find this beer in a package store until yesterday. This happy discovery certainly made up for the 3 hours I spent in my car commuting to work that day (ugh).

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis is a ground-breaking beer because it represents a huge departure for America's pre-eminent craft beer brand. While Sierra Nevada offers a full range of beers, people drink it for the hoppy ones - Pale Ale, Torpedo Extra IPA, ESB and winter favorite Celebration Ale.

Kellerweis, on the other hand, is a different beast - a new German yeast strain and a new Bavarian inspired approach to fermentation, using open fermentation tanks traditionally reserved for ales brewing. According the press release, the name is an homage to the German Keller, meaning cellar—the name breweries give to their fermentation system. Kellerbiers are unfiltered German lagers, brewed and served locally in German beer gardens, with little carbonation, usually amber in color like Märzens with strong hop flavors. This Keller approach applied to the hefeweizen style is what makes Kellerweis a special beer, one worthy of Sierra Nevada's reputation for quality.

What does it taste like?

Kellerweis pours deep golden in color, a shade darker than most hefeweizens, but with a thick creamy head - not quite whipped egg whites, but pillowy and full. Its bottle conditioned, so there's a thin layer of yeast on the bottom. The package includes instructions on how to pour, including swirling some portion of the beer with the yeast to pour into a glass in true Bavarian style.

The aroma is big and fruity - I picked up lemon, apricot and peach notes replacing the traditional phenolic, banana aromas found in hefeweizens. There's a hint of spicy malt notes, but its not dominated by clove.

Taste is where this beer separates itself from its peers - its a malty flavor with a body bigger, with more mouthfeel, than its Bavarian brethren. Typical German Hefeweizens are similar to Julius Echter Hefe-Weiss, surprisingly light in body with little malt flavor and almost no hops. Kellerweis, however, embraces the complexity and depth that Wheat malt offers, giving its a uniquely full bodies flavor with bready notes to accent the lemony fruit flavors. It finishes clean and sweet, refreshing with real character.

This is an outstanding, category defining beer. I'm not alone in that opinion, and I'm interested to see how it does this week at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Prosit!