Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan - Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

he same recipe enjoyed by royals for hundreds of years, this magnificent Hefe Weissbier has a hazy appearance, due to the fact that this wheat beer is unfiltered. It pours a pale yellow color and has a beautifully full head. Look for a malted wheat sweetness, mild spicy hops, and elements of earthy yeast as well as light lemon highlights in this complex and inviting nose. Upon the first sip, you should pick up hints of banana and cloves, balanced nicely with a chewy wheat character and a lingering citrus finish. The body is medium, the taste refreshing, and the character impeccable. It's easy to comprehend how this brewery can produce such a fine beer with nearly a millennium of experience to tout, but it's even easier to understand how this brewery has been in business for hundreds of years when you sample a beer like this distinctive Hefe Weissbier. Go traditional Bavarian and enjoy with Weisswurst (white sausage). Enjoy!

From the largest hop growing region of the world, in the heart of beer brewing culture and history comes the multitude of Bavarian beers. From these veteran lands springs a timeline of brewing history that has delivered some of the hallmark virtues of beer making as we know them today. And as many of us beer lovers take for granted all that goes into our beloved malty nectar, it all had to start from somewhere; there had to have been that first brewery from this esteemed region that started it all. Since the tides of time have washed away the concoctions of the first actual Bavarian brewery, we regret that we cannot bring you the libations of the first brewery from the region. However, we are happy to say that we can deliver a traditional beer produced at what is today recognized as the oldest operating brewery not only in Bavaria, but in the world! If you traveled back in time to Freising, Germany, to the site of our second featured brewery—before the days of DaVinci, Chaucer or Genghis Kahn (born 1162)—you'd be standing in a hop garden that was already 400 years old. Somewhere between the year 725 and 768, this hop garden was planted, and its owner had to pay tithes to the Benedictine monastery of Weihenstephan. In 1040 the monastery was given permission to brew and sell beer in Freising, at the modern day site of Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan. And they have been brewing ever since at the site of this original 8th century hop garden. The Weihenstephan monastery's rights to brew and sell beer passed in 1803 to the King of Bavaria after he purchased the brewery for production of beers for his royal court. Today, it is owned by the Free State of Bavaria and is one of only two breweries to be owned by the state (the other is Munich's famous Hofbrauhaus). In addition to brewing fantastic beers, the owners also use the brewery to teach students the art of brewing, as well as carrying out investigations into the processes and equipment used in practical brewery operations. It's not only science that stands to benefit from this, but clearly the beer drinker as well. Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan has received many accolades in its nearly thousand year history; we'll list a handful from the past few years. Their Hefe Weissbier was awarded a 96 out of 100 points by the Beverage Testing Institute and was the highest rated Weissbier in the world in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2000! The same folks rated the brewery as a whole at 8th out of the top 10 breweries in the world. Enjoy the world renowned classic we've selected for you this month.