Münchner Hefeweizen - Hofbräu, Munich

Hofbräu, for many people, isn't just THE Munich beer but the quintessential German beer. This isn't without reason, they make a stellar product. Hofbräu isn't exactly a paragon of German purity, at least not since a Hard Rock Cafe and Seattle's Best coffee shop opened right next door to the Hofbräuhaus (..not to say anything about the Hofbräuhaus in Las Vegas). Remember though, the Hofbräuhaus became a tourist trap for a reason. Tourists didn't start flocking there for the lederhosen alone. Without a solid line-up of world class beers there simply wouldn't be a Hofbräuhaus and, one could agrue, no Oktoberfest. But I'm going off on a bit of tangent... back to the beer. Simple put, the Hofbräu Hefeweizen is the beer which all other Hefeweizens look up to. That isn't to say other beers can't be better, but this one has been top dog in Münich for the better part of 400 years. When you think about what comes to mind for most people when think about the quintessential American beer... usually it isn't something you'd equate with quality...

So in a sense, Hofbräu's Hefeweizen is like a Red White Dynamite Budweiser? Uh, no. Not at all. What this beer IS is an excellent example of a signature German style of beer. There are very few American Hefeweizens that compare in the slightest way to a good German Hefe, like the Hofbräu. American Hefeweizens usually lack the creaminess of a German Hefe. The same can be said of the signature sour, citrus flavor that sets a Hefeweizen apart from a regular wheat beer. Too often it seems American brewers just take a wheat beer and label it Hefeweizen without really changing anything...

I've had Hofbräu's Hefeweizen a number of times now, both on tap and in the bottle. Like most beers, it does taste better on tap. After sitting in the beer garden under the Chinesischer Turm pagoda in the middle of the Englischer Garten, drinking the same beer from a 12 ounce bottle just isn't the same. This isn't like bringing leftovers home from a restaurant though, Hofbräu from the bottle is still quite good. You do miss out on a little of the "liveliness" of the Hefeweizen... if only we could all live within walking distance of a keg of Münchner Hefeweizen.