I'm a pensive fanboy for style combinations. At times the blending of brewing techniques can yield new flavours. Or it can go wrong and raise the question, "How do I spit out this mouthful of beer in a crowded bar?" Luckily this bottle by Phillips hits the former category. This tees up a stronger dark malt base (dunkel?) and allows a saison yeast to dive in an do its thing. Will spicy phenolics mesh with a rich, dark fruity malt canvas? I'm sure others will disagree with my thoughts.

Schottleweizen = 7/10


From the start, the spicy phenolics dominate the nose. There might be a little dark bread if you dip your nose into the foam. Each chewy mouthful supplies something new. The Schottleweizen is all over the map with flavours of dark breads, chocolate, prunes, bananas esters intertwined with a spicy saison yeast. It fades just as it starts. Perhaps a little unfocused but still very tasty.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 7.5%
Value +1
Appearance 0 (barely. Nice art and a vague description of how beer will taste)

Glassware: Definitely need a weisse glass to accommodate the massive head on this beer.

Food Pairings:Something dark and spicy will work well here. Chicken mole or Jamaican jerk might be in order. What cheese, what cheese? Let's be bold and pair this with a roquefort. If you like desert, try this with flamed bananas with a cinnamon rum glaze.

Cellar: Nope. Most of the flavours are yeast dependent and should fade quickly.

I love stealth marketing. This beer just appeared before my eyes in some backwater CBAW. It wasn't really backwater, just Maude Hunters.This bottle was wedged next to all the releases you thought were sold out like Bird of Prey, Road Trip and Old Cellar Dweller. They even had a cask of Russell brewing on the bar. There was only a minor mention of this on the specials chalk board. My server never even mentioned it. Too bad, I would have liked to try it.
Anyways back to the beer. The farmhouse/saison style beer is a style where almost anything is appropriate. As long as you use some wheat and an appropriate yeast, things are good. Between fits of coughing, Dean elaborated on this beer, "[it was] brewered as a saison with as many bakery ingredients as we could through at it, including huge tubs of of rye sourdough starter made for us by Byron Fry. Sweet and a touch sour with a little rye spiciness, this one's for more general audience than a truly sour or bretty beer would be." Collaberations are great, especially with other craft food vendors like Fry's Red Wheat Bread. A beer with a sourdough starter and rye? What did this beer prick think?

Sauerteig = 8/10

You could tell there was some funky yeast action with the barnyard smell and the multitude of little bubbles that comprised the head. The nose also presented hints of athletes foot, wheat, peppery rye and lemons. My first impression of the sip was that this tastes rather like a Berliner Weisse. I tried to homebrew a Berliner Weisse once. The sauerteig tastes way better than my homebrew. Each sip is juicy and sweet with lemons, sourdough bread and Seville oranges. The ending gives a dry finish that speaks of rye. Did I mention the tart barnyard sourness that carries all the way through? It was not a mouth puckering sour; Mrs. Left4beer called it a beginner sour. Not an overly complex beer, but interesting enough to keep you coming back.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 7%ABV
Value +1
Appearance +1 (Boring label but good description of beer. Would have been nice if QR code linked to more information about beer)

Glassware: Tulip.

Food Pairings: I really wish there was some wash rind cheese in the fridge. A pasta with tonnes of pecorino cheese would be great.

Cellar: nope. Sour character might develop more.

In case you missed it: Moon Under Water changed hands. Clay Potter is now brewing up some new stuff for local craft beer lovers to devour. Their Pilsner was great, dunkel ditto. The newest brew is a weizenbock. This style is essential a strong wheat beer. While other bocks are lagers, weizenbock are generally ales. The definitive example of a weizenbock is Aventius, by Schneider. I think you can find it in bottles around town, or Clive's Classic Lounge has some. These brews have a high percentage of wheat malt in the recipe and often uses a specialized yeast strain. A combination leading to big flavours of bananas, cloves, wet cereal, caramel and figs. So how did the Victorious fair?

The Victorious Weizenbock = 9/10
Ratebeer  = 4.1/5.  Thanks Capflu

WOW, party time in ester town! With a big nose of Wheaties, bananas and cloves, you know the flavour will be equally as large. The creamy and full mouthfeel adds no new flavours but does provide a bit of warmth. All the way to the end, the bananas prevail. Sweet tapioca, figs and cloves end in a longer linger of banana puree. Well done. For all you savages out there, a perfect food pairing would be heavy game. Think about duck, venison, or pork stew. For the more gentle folk; mushroom paté or tempeh stroganoff would be suitable. Both could agree on flambé bananas for dessert. 



Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 8.2%
Value +1 worth trying
Appearance +1 not served in proper glassware, but the tulip was close enough

No preamble today. It's a strong wheat beer and it's delicious. If you see buy it. Unless you happen to not like this style. But still buy one for me, then I will let you be my friend.

Georg Schneiders Wiesen Edel-Weisse = 9/10
Ratebeer 3.56 95th percentile
Beer Advocate A-

Tart lemons and spicy yeast fill the room as this bottle is opened. The aroma is big enough to taste. There is so much effervescence and carbonation up front that the delicate lemon, wheat and spicy yeast flavours almost get lost. But they don't. They stick to your tongue with a slight astringency of lemon drops and sourdough bread.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 6.2%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (bonus for being organic)

KellerWies (Sierra Nevada)
Schneider Weisse
Dunkel Weiss (Great Divide)

Longwood Pub Dunkelweizen

Ratebeer 2.89 with 8 ratings
Beer Advocate B-

This is another sampling from the Naniamo brewpub. This is still a wheat style beer. With addition of darker malts you in theory could taste richer flavours like toffee, chocolate and roast.

Taste +1

The nose is very faint of wheat and slightly caramel. The flavour is a little watery but the wheat and malt sweetness still come through. After a good hit of caramel a pleasant flowery hop bitterness washed it all away. Maybe there was a bit of bruised banana in there, but that would be a stretch.

Aftertaste 0

A clean ending and that was it.
Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

It was OK but I'm not digging it.
Ingame Enhancement 0

This lackluster beer did not enhance my video gaming experience at all. All I could think about was other brews in my beer fridge to make my palate happy.

Overall 1/10

This just seemed a little off for a Dunkel.

Baron Bohemian
Warsteiner Dunkel

Dunkel Weiss - Great Divide Brewing
Dark Wheat Ale/Dunkelweizen

This a different take on the wheat beer. The addition of darker malts adds flavours of roast and chocolate.

Ratebeer 3.28 70th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +3

Your nose is tickled with a sweet aroma of sherry, cherries and toffee. The mouthfeel is very full with rich toffee, a little roast and yeasty biscuits. Bananas and cloves are still there, just a little hard to find.

Aftertaste +2

The finish is very resiny-like with a long coating of glycerin, yeast and tart wheat.

Alcohol Content +1 6.2%

Value 0

This was a nice beer, but it was $7.50US. It was a little above average price for the quality of beer.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Rumor has it that Meterman will be back soon in the L4D world. He needs to stop getting things done and spend more time in a dark room alone.

Overall 5/10

If you are particular to the wheat beers, this might provide a richer experience.

Baron Bohemian
Warsteiner Dunkel
Schneider Weisse

Schneider Weisse

Ratebeer 3.56 88th Percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Schneider is one of the largest brewers of wheat beer in the world. Beers in the class of wheat beers, or Weizens, tend to be very light and refreshing. They also share the characteristics of citrus flavours and dry finishes. Breweries often use a secondary fermentation in the bottle to add natural carbonation and further enhance the flavours. These beers are very suitable for mixing with fruit juices and herbal extracts. Another great brew by this company is the Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock, a Clan AR C favourite. Hoegaarden is a notable wheat beer from Belgium. Rickards White is wheat beer brewed closer to home. ***Please note the Rickards white is not a notable beer***


Taste +3

At first whiff you were certain this would be a good wheat beer; the vapours of sweet citrus and wheat were very apparent. It was almost floral. Check; light, sunshine yellow cloudy beer. The taste is just as expected; a very clean, bright flavour. Light malt sweetness from start to finish, with hints of banana bread. This is one refreshing beer.

Aftertaste +1

The nicest, cleanest finish I have tasted in a while. The dry finish was followed by a surprising citrus fruit flavour delay.

Alcohol Content 0 5.4%

You don't expect a heavy hitting beer from a standard wheat beer.

Value +1

This was a very nice wheat beer. There is no doubt I will regularly stock this one. It cost the Clan ARC finance department $3 for 500ml.

Ingame Enhancement -1

I must beg Nightware to bestow up me admin privlidges for the L4D server. After a 1/2 price L4D game sale, the place was full of swearing idiots that do not understand the concept of co-op.

4/10 Meh

Only a bad night of gaming could ruin the score of this good beer.