Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Drinkerofales

California

4.1/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Golden yellow straw colored, cloudy haze as well. Medium sized head(for a wheat), pure white in colore, with good retention.

Smells like a wheat, lightly tangy yeast, wheat malts, no citrus, and a hint of banana.

Flavor though has some nice lemony aspects, lightly yeasty, with the wheat prevalent and balanced.

Texture is lighter bodied with some mouth feel. A nice bit of dryness to the finish, and easy to drink.

Solid session ale here, pretty good for not being German.

DOA

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2012 10:48:33 | More by Drinkerofales

Immortale25

Florida

3.88/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured into a Magic Hat #9 pint glass. This was on sale at my local grocery store which had me worried that it's been sitting on the shelf a while, so I learned how to read SN's freshness dates to see if that were so. So, if I'm reading it correctly, it was bottled May 3, 2012. Not bad.

A- Pours a hazy gold color with a 1/2 inch white head that immediately fizzes away leaving a paper-thin ring around the edge of the glass and a big bump of surface foam. Minimal lacing.

S- A good amount of banana aroma and some clove. Crisp.

T- Straightforward banana flavor with a bit of spice to back it up. Basically tastes the way it smells, which is fine. The low ABV explains why it's so light and easy to drink.

M- Standard feel but a bit zesty. Medium carbonation and a light-ish body. Somewhat watery.

O- This was one of the first Hefeweizen's I'd ever had and it still holds up pretty well today. Not one of the best of the style but SN's kinda past the point of trying to win medals.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2012 04:30:51 | More by Immortale25

LeeryLeprechaun

Colorado

4.28/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

The beer pours a straw yellow color with a nice fluffy head. The yeast in the bottle makes the beer an enjoyable cloudy color.

The aroma is of banana, clove, and wheat malt. The aromas are all very well balanced without anything being blown out of porportion.

The beer tastes sweet and wheaty and is very refreshing.

The mouthfeel is full and smooth.

A refreshing hefe that is very well balanced. The aroma and flavor is more subtle which makes it seem more complex without anything being overpowering.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 22:52:16 | More by LeeryLeprechaun

acevenom

Louisiana

4.65/5  rDev +14%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Pours cloudy golden with a tall white head. Some tiny bubbles can be seen rising from the bottom of the glass. This is a slightly bready smelling hefeweizen with the typical banana and clove aromas. The desired hefeweizen flavors are here. The ripe banana and clove flavors are present with the light bready malt backbone. The body is light with adequate carbonation. The finish is smooth and refreshing. The drinkability is very high. This is an excellent beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 01:01:21 | More by acevenom

mikeaji

Virginia

3.88/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a nice light golden color, minimal head. Smells delicous, can detect banana like most other Hefeweizens. Slight Clove smell and other spices. Real easy on the palate, no bitterness, great taste. Sweet on the taste buts. Overall a solid beer. Not my favorite Hefeweizen, but one I'd def try again if available.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 04:43:59 | More by mikeaji

Undbeerdrinker

North Carolina

4.93/5  rDev +20.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Finally, i get to try this beer. My local beer shop didn't have it so i biked from St. Armands Key to Whole foods in Sarasota only to find this pretty eyeing me in the mix and match 6 pack section. Let's break it down.

A- Beautiful...really.

S- I almost didn't want to drink it because the smell would go away. I love the smell of a good hefe.

T- It was like i dreamed honestly. It's a lot like franz but a little better because of all the banana and spice. I'm a man of all kinds of spices, but this was the perfect amount.

M- Delightful. A tinge of a burn, but so sweet.

O- Best hefe i've had. I've had most of them too, but this one just stands out in my book. Don't listen to the naysayers! This is a damn good beer!

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 01:31:38 | More by Undbeerdrinker

IronLover

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Hazy orange-yellow in color. Poured with a thick white foam that reduced to a wispy cap. Sweet banana aroma up front with hits of bready malt and orange zest and a touch of spice. Nice, thick body that grows as the refreshing carbonation rolls through. Sweet banana flavor out of the gate immediately followed by a pleasant spiciness that carries to the end. Refreshing orange zest through the middle. Spices intensify at the end and the finish is crisp and clean.

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2012 00:49:55 | More by IronLover

czieber

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from 12oz bottle into pint glass. Cloudy with an excellent deep golden color. Head retention is poor, with no lacing evident.
Smell is good, with slight hint of bananas. Taste is good, with a very light mouthfeel. Pronounced clove and bananas, with very light mouthfeel.

A good example of a hefe, but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2012 23:42:27 | More by czieber

JRed

New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Extra cloudy golden hue with white fluffy head that fades but leaves some attractive lacing. Smells of banana, clove, slight honey. Flavors of banana, clove, smooth vanilla, some floral notes, honey, and slick honey that covers the tongue. Medium bodied with light carbonation. Pretty, tasty, filling. Nevad does a great job with the hefe.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2012 00:57:14 | More by JRed

DAllspaw

Indiana

4.73/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a deep straw color with a very prominent sediment cloud. Good to follow pouring instructions which suggest swirling after pouring two thirds to get all sediment. Nice lacing.

Tasted this after weisenheistephaner as a compare and would give this a slight nod in being a touch more creamy and substantial. Nice body and a slight more sweetness over a more hot finish. Otherwise very similar in many ways. Can't go wrong with either.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2012 00:59:48 | More by DAllspaw

Arithmeticus

Maryland

4.33/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured chilled in straight-edge glass

A: hazy orange; little head; good carb stream
S: sweet, malty aroma with pear overtones
T: wonderful Belgian-inspired flavor; bottle-conditioned yeast comes through strongly as does a nice mixture of pear and grape; the hops are nicely balanced against the malt. Complex flavor. Tastes a bit higher in ABV than it really is.

Very nice beer, esp. for summer.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 20:32:18 | More by Arithmeticus

goldendenizen

4.35/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: hazy and dirty blonde. True to the style. The creamy head and body (oh damn) it provides is a selling point.

S: Banana wheat.

T: Amazing fresh hef goodness. Of course there's banana in there as well as a lil sweetness. If you dont appreciate the style why did you purchase this beer in the first place?

M: above avg carbonation which is a good thing...

O: Overall the taste is not as exact as the Germans but the creaminess does it for me. A great sessionable summer brew if you prefer this style. If not, more for me...

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 00:23:41 | More by goldendenizen

sauron681

Wisconsin

4.23/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a nice golden, very very filtered, clear color. Good head and sticky lacing as it should be. Did I mention how filtered clear this beer is?
Smells of vanilla milkshake and slight frutiness. Medium mouthfeel, slightly chewy but true to style.
Lots of banana flavor with bubble gum, couldnt pick up much of the clove, however. Fairly sweet beer but still very tasty.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2012 16:49:23 | More by sauron681

mattbk

New York

3.88/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Fairly cloudy, grainy, very carbonated, big bubbles. OK, not great actually. I usually prefer these a bit paler and the bubbles tiny from the fermenting yeast.

S - Familiar banana, clove, crisp wheat, sweet malt, maybe a bit of a papery dimension to it though. Not sure of the date on this.

T - It starts off sweet on the tongue, which quickly gives way to a peppery, yeasty flavor. Rich banana and cloves. Good, fairly refreshing. The malt is just a tad cloying, which should not be typical of this style.

M - Fairly dry, carbonated, medium light mouthfeel. The malt has a long finish.

O - I think this is a decent example of the style, not world class in my opinion but still quite good. It's possible this is a bit oxidized.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2012 02:07:47 | More by mattbk

Jesse13713

Ohio

2.85/5  rDev -30.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance - A whipped, creamy head that is soapy underneath. A slightly hazy straw-gold color. Fairly opaque. An elixir-looking brew.

Smell - Magnificent fresh bananas and light spice. A bready and yeasty smell. The brew smells sweet all in all.

Taste - An immediately noticeable sweetness that is coated with a splenda-like taste. A bit flat with a funky well-water taste. The hint of banana is weak, and the spice of the clove drifts in an out in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel and Drinkability - A bit too sweet for my liking. I would have liked to see a stronger emphasis on banana flavoring. This beer is very meh to me.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2012 21:01:44 | More by Jesse13713

rdilauro

Connecticut

4.03/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a nice yellow golden mirky mix. A very small head. As the beer settled in the glass, everything cleared up.
The aroma was German, a nice wheat style beer.
The taste was even better, in fact better than some of the German Hefeweizen's I have tasted.
But what really made me enjoy this one, was at the end of the bottle, I poured it into the glass, and as before, it started to settle and clear up... This time, as it cleared, there was a good amount of sediment at the bottom.
Finishing that along with the remains of the beer made for an very enjoyable time.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2012 00:20:13 | More by rdilauro

estlinska

Arkansas

4.48/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a bottle into a hefeweizen glass. Poured into the glass a opalescent gold color, swirled the yeast and then added to the glass which produced a cloudy deep gold, the same color as the label. Lots of head that dissipates with little lacing. The nose is lots of bannana, lots of coriander, all fruit, very wheaty. The taste is all that is promised with pure wheaty flavor, lots of bannana, and good spice of coriander. Palate is very creamy with a good finish that lasts. Very easy drinking, very sessionable. Tasty SN offering and true to style.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2012 23:49:06 | More by estlinska

jimmah120

Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12oz bottle with no date

Look is a great unfiltered gold-yellow with a sudsy white head. Smell is grain, wheat, banana, pepper, clove. Taste follows with light wheat/grain, spice, clove, banana, lemon. Feel is light-medium, ok carbonation.

Great hefe, would be a good introduction to the style. Still, it was a tad underwhelming.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2012 01:54:29 | More by jimmah120

bubseymour

Maryland

4.28/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - golden wheat beer with 1 finger head that quickly disappears

s - a very strong nosed beer. Very strong scents of bannana and clove with lots of malt and bready notes to boot

T - Is this straight from Germany? No its from Chico,CA but its so well crafted it could easily pass as a German imported hef. Exceptional flavor and authenticity.

M - Full bodied and nice.

Overall - A incredibly well crafted Hefeweizen by an American brewer. Germany should be leary. Sierra Nevada does it again.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2012 01:13:07 | More by bubseymour

LXIXME

New Mexico

3.23/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from above the glass an inch or less gave this a medium to big white head above a slightly cloudy golden colored beer.
The head slowly fades into a pretty decent lacing on this light bodied hefeweizen.

Light sour lemon and other citrus fruits, and grains aroma that transfers exactly to the taste.

This beer had a light lemony dry aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2012 05:58:33 | More by LXIXME

Cylinsier

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz.

Pours hazy lemony honey gold with an inch white head that dissipates quickly.

Smells of fresh grassy malts, lemon citrus and honey.

Tastes of clover honey, banana esters and wheat malt.

Medium body with soft carbonation.

Really good, thirst quenching hefe, highly sessionable but not light on flavor, I could drink this all summer.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2012 00:14:07 | More by Cylinsier

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.53/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into weizen glass

Appearance – Pours a very hazy light yellow-orange/golden color. There is a billowing white head that is formed upon pouring. The head has a good persistence and fades to leave a good level of lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is heavy of banana, yeast, and pepper; very classic Hefeweizen. Mixed with three three stronger previously mentioned aromas is a lighter citrus aroma in the background.

Taste – A lemon citrus and bready flavor meets the tongue. These are soon meet with flavors of yeast, which bring with it a flavor of banana and pepper. The banana is light, but the pepper gets stronger and stronger as the taste advances. Other spices and some sweeter citrus flavors then work their way in toward the end, with the pepper and yeast taking big command of the taste. In the end it has a very yeasty, peppery and citrusy flavor.

Mouthfeel – A medium thickness in body and an average level of carbonation. Nothing too special here.

Overall – Not bad, but nothing too spectacular either. Easy to drink but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 01:12:28 | More by Darkmagus82

MatthewWilde

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Sample: On-Tap 2012

A: Yellow orange in color, minimal internal carbonation, hazy throughout, no head with minimal lacing

S: Moderately fragrant, light citrus, hints of berries and dried fruits, strong wheat elements and some lemon zest

T: Reminiscent of the nose, very dominating citrus/wheat elements, a bit butter to finish, some hops, decently flavorful

M: Smooth, light fruity/citrus aftertaste, not drying on the palate, quite drinkable and refreshing

O: A solid hefeweizen all-around, but nothing special with all elements to be expected

Serving type: on-tap

05-18-2012 15:12:15 | More by MatthewWilde

tito42

Missouri

3.53/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle to a weizen glass. Bottled 1/31/2012.

A: Cloudy from the yeast and straw to golden across the glass. Light, white, sudsy head without the best lacing/retention.

S: Lacking in the nose. Heavy yeast with wheat and some clove. Not picking up the phenols like I do in the best hefeweizens. A slight lemony note as well.

T: Yeast forward with wheat following, then a bright lemon/tangerine citrus note. A nice citrus presence but missing out on some of the other fun phenol flavors.

M: High yeast content yields a nice bit of creaminess, though this is still a refreshing beer for a hot day. Nicely done.

O: I was a bit disappointed with this offering from SN, and I generally really like their beer. It's not bad, but isn't really great in any respect other than mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2012 03:38:11 | More by tito42

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottled March 21st, 2012. Using the Schneider Weisse weizen glass.

Vigorous swirl clouded my beer up a dirty light orange. Light, fluffy head of three fingers or more in height that sets up shop on the surface. Lovely lacing spirals around the glass. 5.0

Clove-heavy aroma with big banana bread notes. Mild sweet lemon aroma intermingles. Huge spicy clove coming off of this one. 4.0

Sweet, spicy, and tart. The sweet coming from a banana flesh and peel fruit note. The spicy from the clove phenols and light nuttiness. The tart from wheaty twang and light lemon. Cloves are full-on in the finish, mixing with a snappy green hop note. Almost finishes like a Spice Drop candy. Delicious. 4.0

Decently milky feel (although the body isn't as velvety as I would have imagined) with some backend carbonation activity. The spiciness pushes this to a whole new level. 4.0

A hefeweizen that does no wrong. Plus, it's available just about anywhere. It's a win-win situation with Kellerweis in your fridge. 4.5

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2012 20:28:48 | More by thecheapies