first weihenstephan vitus

[zorak1066]

ok so maybe I was expect more. a guy at work raves about it so I finally tried it. served at about 62f because I couldn't wait to chill it.

impression: color - lighter than expected.. a pale straw with a strong head of foam
aroma - wheaty, earthy some spice but absolutely no banana esters ( everything I read says there should be some)
taste - for a wheat beer, the first thing I got hit with was the strong alcohol of nearly 8% abv. . . slightly warm quality. it had a earthy/faintly clove quality but definitely was not medicinal (astringent). tartness of a wheat beer, pleasant and not overly sour. the hops if any were virtually undetectable unless they used only flavoring and aroma hops and went for spice and earth. I would guess the bitterness to be less than or around 10-15%.

there was a background maltiness for me that didn't taste like wheat. anyone know if this beer is 100% wheat or if they add something to it?

carbonation: very fizzy / sprity .. tons of tiny bubbles. nice.
overall a refreshing though potent weizen. I would give it 4 of 5 for a wheat. imo it was good but not omg cant live without it good.

anyone ever make the northern brewer advantageous weizenbock? how would it compare to the vitus?

anyone ever use the weihenstephan yeast? did you note a lack of banana esters? maybe they just fermented it in the lowest range for the yeast?

[mashani]

ok so maybe I was expect more. a guy at work raves about it so I finally tried it. served at about 62f because I couldn't wait to chill it.

impression: color - lighter than expected.. a pale straw with a strong head of foam
aroma - wheaty, earthy some spice but absolutely no banana esters ( everything I read says there should be some)
taste - for a wheat beer, the first thing I got hit with was the strong alcohol of nearly 8% abv. . . slightly warm quality. it had a earthy/faintly clove quality but definitely was not medicinal (astringent). tartness of a wheat beer, pleasant and not overly sour. the hops if any were virtually undetectable unless they used only flavoring and aroma hops and went for spice and earth. I would guess the bitterness to be less than or around 10-15%.

there was a background maltiness for me that didn't taste like wheat. anyone know if this beer is 100% wheat or if they add something to it?

carbonation: very fizzy / sprity .. tons of tiny bubbles. nice.
overall a refreshing though potent weizen. I would give it 4 of 5 for a wheat. imo it was good but not omg cant live without it good.

anyone ever make the northern brewer advantageous weizenbock? how would it compare to the vitus?

anyone ever use the weihenstephan yeast? did you note a lack of banana esters? maybe they just fermented it in the lowest range for the yeast?

That beer is around 65% wheat and 35% pilsner I think. Most wheat's fall into a range like that or else 60/40 or similar.

You will get banana esters out of that yeast if you ferment it warm. They must not have in the beer you drank which is why it's more clove like. It's possible that the higher OG also suppresses the banana a bit. (yeast act different under different "stress" conditions).

You may have noticed the matiness more in that beer since it's a higher gravity "wheat bock" beer instead of a normal wheat beer, so you notice the pils more.

There is likely no flavoring hops in it, just bittering, everything else you taste that is spicy/earthy comes from the yeast.

The northern brewer recipe is going to be delicious I think, but probably closer to the weizenbock that I made with munich and a pseudo decoction. (referred to as "mashani's weizenbock" in various posts by folks). It will have some dark fruit characteristics that aren't in the beer you drank, and it will be even more malty. If you ferment warm you will get banana on top.