First published in BEER June 2008 as part of a piece about wheat beers. Read more about wheat beers in previous post.
ABV: 3.1 and 5.4 per cent
Origin: Kulmbach, Franconia (Bavaria), Germany
Website www.kulmbacher.de
Kulmbacher Kapuziner Weißbier Leicht
Kulmbacher Kapuziner Weißbier mit feiner Hefe
Bavaria is, of course, one of the heartlands of wheat beer brewing and about the only part of the world where brewers didn’t suffer collective amnesia over the use of wheat at some point in the last fifty years. Within Bavaria, it doesn’t get more beery than Franconia, where in the town of Kulmbach you’ll find one of the region’s biggest craft breweries, simply named Kulmbacher, the result of a merger of four local breweries in 1996.
Kulmbacher’s wheat beer range, produced under the monastic moniker Kapuziner, is now being imported into the UK. It includes a standard unfiltered pale wheat beer as well as a lower gravity “leicht” (light) – this being Bavaria, both are made with the pure ingredients of malted barley, malted wheat, hops and water only.
At 3.1 per cent the leicht is as strong as some British standard bitters but is certainly light for the style. It pours an authentic sunny orange-yellow with a thick white rocky head and a characteristically spicy aroma, with grainy and hay meadow scents and a hint of banana. There are cereal notes on a slightly oily palate with a pronounced lemon citrus flavour, turning orangey on a smooth tangy finish. Overall it’s a tasty beer but slightly thin.
The standard cloudy wheat beer is a weightier offering, similar in appearance but with a more complex aroma featuring clear strawberry and banana notes and a touch of farmyard – the distinctive wheat beer yeasts have obviously had a busier time with more gravity to work with. More banana fruit joins rich toffee on a firm, slightly sweet palate, and there are more hops too on a long chewy citric finish.
Read more about these beers at ratebeer.com:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kapuziner-weissbier/5093/
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/kapuziner-weissbier-leicht/14763/
Leave a Reply