Ayinger Bräuweisse Review

“Bavaria Goes Bananas”

Country: Germany

Brand: Ayinger Bräuweisse

Brewery: Brauerei Aying, Aying (Franz Inselkammer KG)
Package: Bottle (500 ml) 

Type: Light Coloured Wheat Beer (Hefe Weizen)

Age: NAS

ABV: 5.1%

Ingredients: Water, Wheat Malt, Barley Malt, Hops and Yeast.
Antioxidant: Not Indicated 
Stabiliser: Not Indicated

Colour: Hazy Pale Gold

Foam: Nice Dense Foam that unfortunately disappears very quickly. Only a Thin layer of Foam remains in the glass while enjoying your Ayinger. No traces of Foam remain in the glass once you finished it.

Nose: Yeast, Banana Ice Cream and Bubble Gum are the first impressions. I also find Lemon, Clove, Nutmeg, light Grassy Hops, Honey, Sweet Corn, Caramel Malt, Floral tones and Bread Dough.

Wrong Glass, Correct Beer!

Palate: Quite Light and slightly Watery. Adequate Carbonation. It's mainly Sweet with only a very light Bitterness for balance. The Banana Ice Cream is back together with Vanilla, Sweet Grain, Yeast, Honey, light Hops, Butterscotch, Bubble Gum, Orange, Lemon, Clove, Nutmeg, and Fresh Coriander.

Finish: Light and Short with Sweet Grain, Yeast, Banana, Green Apple, Vanilla, Bread, Clove, Pepper and a hint of Aniseed. Quite Dry and a little Bitter towards the end.

Rating: ******* (Seven out of Ten)

General Remarks: The Ayinger Brewery was founded in 1877 and is a medium sized independent Brewery, located in Aying (Bavaria) close to Munich. About 10% of their beers is exported, mainly to Europe and the USA but also for instance to Brazil. Their main line of Beers include Doppelbock, Dunkel, Lager, Keller and Dark Wheat Beer. Ayinger Beers won many trophies in European Beer Contests. A new Brewery building was opened in 1999.

Drinking Experience: Good 

Conclusion: In general I like to drink a Wheat Beer from time to time. I did have a few over the last couple of years, mainly from Germany and Austria. The Ayinger I'm tasting today is a nice representative of this type of Beer but not the best I've tasted. I find it a bit too Sweet and the initial Freshness of the Banana Ice-Cream and Bubble Gum becomes slightly annoying over time. This beer could do with some extra Hops in my opinion. It's certainly a well-made Wheat Beer but given the ample competition in this segment I don't think I will re-visit this soon. I will review another Wheat Beer from Germany in the coming weeks!

Jan van den Ende                                                                      June 12, 2015