Hefe Madness – Round 1 – Ayinger Brau-Weisse vs. Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat

By on May 12, 2009 @ 8 PM (1 Comment)

Note: This is the The BeerFathers Hefe Madness Tournament, where we put eight hefeweizens head-to-head in a beer tournament to end all beer tournaments, March Madness style. See the original post here. All beers are consumed in weizen glasses with John and Beer Love neighbor Josh serving as the judges.

Round 1, Beer Battle 2

Hefe Madness Round 1,  Battle 2

Ayinger Brau-Weisse comes in as the number two seed in the hefeweizen tournament, thanks to it’s “A-” rating at BeerAdvocate.com and overall 92 rating at RateBeer.com. The 500 mL bottles cost $3.49/each.

Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat comes in as the number seven seed in the hefeweizen tournament, thanks to it’s “B-” rating at BeerAdvocate.com and overall 36 rating at RateBeer.com. The 12 oz bottles cost $1.79/each.

This should be a pretty good matchup, despite the difference in the seeds, I’ve always liked the Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat – a very drinkable treat from Flying Dog, who makes so much good brew.

(7) Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat

The In-Heat Wheat gave us an average 1″ inch frothy white head that left no head lacing as it dissipated quickly. There was a medium amount of carbonation and the yellow/gold body was slightly murky – hefes shouldn’t be clear so this is a good thing.

The aromas came in with citrus – specifically lemon, banana and pepper. The flavors came in with a nondescript citrus, a light grassiness, light banana and pepper. The finish gave us a light bitter and a light sour. For our bottom line notes we got a yes to repeatable, drinkable, balance and buy again. We got a no for harmony, memorable and wow factor.

There is more citrus than banana in the taste of this one. It’s smooth and fairly well balanced but there’s no notes of distinction. Perfectly acceptable as a hefe, but as it warms it’s not quite as good as it was – it gets a little chalky the warmer it gets.

Overall score for the In-Heat Wheat: 5 out of 10

(2) Ayinger Brau-Weisse

The Brau-Weisse pour gave us a huge 3″ foamy white head the left no head lacing as it dissipated slowly. It has a medium to lively carbonation to it and there was a nice haziness to the straw to yellow colored body.

The aromas came in with citrus – specifically grapefruit, yeast, apple, banana and pear. Nice light fruit tones really present a great bouquet. The flavors were pretty true to the aromas and also added a pepperiness that was nice. Initial flavors were lightly sweet and finish flavors stayed lightly sweet with a light tartness. There was no body lacing to speak of as we drank it down. Bottom line notes gave us a yes to repeatable, drinkable, balance, harmony and buy again. We got a no for memorable and wow factor.

Notes were fairly straightforward – heavy on fruits – apples, bananas and citrus – like a good fruit cocktail salad. Nice peppery taste and a smooth appealing mouthfeel.

Overall score for the Brau-Weisse: 7 out of 10

Winner: (2) Ayinger Brau-Weisse

Updated bracket:

Hefe Madness Round 2

Next time: (3) Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse vs. (7) Arcobrau Weissbier.


1 Comment (Add Your Comments)

  1. Kelly says:

    I like the tournament! I didn’t like the In-Heat Wheat that much at all!!! Brau Weisse is a damn good bier!

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