Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

charlzm

California

3.2/5  rDev -21.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Consumed on September 9th, 2011 at The Four Points Sheraton Sierra Nevada event.

Beer is a cloudy yellow somewhere between light and medium in hue. A slight white head crowns the affair.

Aroma is bananas with a mild wheat undercurrent.

The flavor is light, fresh banana wheat bread. Bitterness is mild but apparent. No cloves or other spices to note. Somewhat bland.

Mouthfeel is slightly thick and even a little chewy.

Not a great hefe, but a serviceable one.

Serving type: on-tap

09-21-2011 15:42:55 | More by charlzm

kingcrowing

Vermont

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

12oz bottle poured in a snifter.

Nice deep golden color, very smooth and cloudy with a small white head. Very classic hefe look. Very sharp taste, light body. I think it's slightly over carbonated but it's still good. Some banana and other spices in the flavor I think it's a good hefewizen but it's too light in body and the flavor is a little weak for me.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2009 02:04:35 | More by kingcrowing

SamN

Colorado

3.23/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Bought a sixer at Campus West Liquors. Poured in a hefe glass.

Poured a hazy golden hue with a slightly tan head that was smaller than expected, no lacing. Very nice hefeweizen look, the unfilteredness singing it's siren song, calling me in.

Smells of spice, big banana smell. creamy wheatness, flowers. Very aromatic, great nose, quite complex.

Taste is sort of...bland. Lemony, with some hops in the end. Watery, without much going on, a little bit sweet. Bummer. I'd honestly rather smell this beer than drink it.

Mouthfeel is okay. Carbonation is right on, light like a hefe should be.

Drinkability is quite good, if I don't care about taste. I could drink a lot of these BBQing or fishing. Great summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2009 22:19:07 | More by SamN

maddogruss

New Jersey

3.23/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Got a bottle from this from the Cloverleaf Tavern.

A: Pours a hazy, straw-yellow body with a small, white head with ok retention and decent lacing along the glass.

S: A slight, bitter yeast smell with some sweet banana ester notes and slightly metallic undertones.

T: A slight, metallic, banana ester taste with a sweet, banana and slight clove aftertaste. Decent hefeweizen-style beer overall.

M: A pretty light bodied and smooth mouthfeel with a nice, crisp finish. Pretty nice summer beer.

D: A nice mouthfeel and taste combination makes this beer pretty nice to drink. A decent summer beer overall and not too bad of a hefeweizen.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2010 19:48:42 | More by maddogruss

grannaniwa

Massachusetts

3.23/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Big white two-finger head on top of a cloudy, lemon-yellow brew. Nice banana and estery bite on the nose. Nose shifts to more cloves as it settles down. Head dissipates very quickly.

Flavor is much spicier (as in spice rack) than I expected. Very round taste, ends a little tangy and a little sweet. Maybe some cooked corn flavors -- having trouble placing something. Swallow has a bit of yeast on it.

Overall: B, Definitely a distinct flavor profile, but not a good fit for me.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2012 00:47:26 | More by grannaniwa

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

chinchill

South Carolina

3.23/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Served in a Peroni glass, this beer pours a hazy golden-yellow with a rather short-lived white head. Banana and clove in the nose, but not as pronounced as in a typical Bavarian version.

M: light body; surprising harshness with a bit of tongue bite.

O: perhaps the first SN beer I on't want to have again. Not bad, but an rthe average version of a style i don't usually care for.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2012 20:42:50 | More by chinchill

joecast

Australia

3.23/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Cloudy golden. Low carbonation with no head to speak of. A bit of a lackluster start.

Decent aroma with all the expected character. Light banana and clove with a bit of spicy phenolic yeast.

Mellow taste which lacks some pop due yo the low carbonation. Light soft mouthfeel with a nice sweetness and little hop character.

Well, it's nice, but being SN my expectations were high.

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2013 08:52:22 | More by joecast

bbluemzbeer

California

3.24/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Sierra Nevada is Great beer Company. I decide to try their Hefeweizen beer. It was 8.99 a six pack. If you think this beer will taste like a german hefe you will be disappointed. It was total diffrent taste more lighter and circus is srong not as balanced.

Appearance Nice cloudy, , little head retention but above good lacing.

Smells: lemons, banana, slight clove, a some breadiness.

Taste : Taste theh banana, citrus/lemon and clove but the citrus is very strong. Feel the good carbonation. It does not tast lke a germany hefe . It has disitnct taste of it's own. After three beers it become more flavorful. Again do not expect this beer to taste like a German hefe .

Mouthfeel: Great carbonation, thicker than I was expecting and nicely carbonated.

Verall : Certainly not an authentic German offering does not have hops like German beers. . Not overly sweet which I really like. The intensity of the taste is not there but when as the beer warm up they came out. I might buy again if on sale not for 8.99 six pack. I would buy a German Hefe. THis would begreat for summer time

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 17:42:38 | More by bbluemzbeer

jpro

South Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Picked up a 6'er last weekend... Pours a pale, straw yellow - nice and cloudy with a puffy white head; good head retention. Aroma is of yeast, bread, pepper and some very light hints of banana / clove. The taste is mostly of bready malt / wheat, banana-fruity esters, spicy and a little tart. The mouthfeel is nice and creamy; its light-medium bodied and very drinkable and a great summertime brew (although its probably not something I would go for on a regular basis).

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2009 02:49:51 | More by jpro

curasowa

New York

3.25/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours a cloudy, pale yellow color with generous head that fades slowly with chunky lacking. Smell is quite typical, lots of yeast notes with a background of citrus and a faint metallic aroma. Taste starts out characteristically, slightly dry and wheaty and then gets a bit more complex in the middle, with flavors of banana being the most dominate. Body is slightly thin, finish is lingering but not unpleasant and the metallic note from the smell comes through in the end, also. A decent Hefe, but not my favorite.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2010 00:28:56 | More by curasowa

GilmooDaddy

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured from 12 oz bottle. Purchased from Total Wine in Norfolk, Virginia.

(Appearance): Pours a light golden, non transparent yellow in color with a two finger foam head that gradually fades into a thin, pinky width, creamy lace at the top of the beer. Bubbles cling to the sides and form a rather jumbled pattern on the surface.

(Smell): This hefeweizen has a very pronounced banana and fruity smell. I wouldn't go as far as to say purely "citrus", but more like a banana/apple smoothie kind of smell. Not subtle at all, which is great. I love a beer that makes its presence know.

(Taste): The taste is definitely one of the oddest I've had in a hefeweizen. I sense the banana nature of a typical hefe screaming to come out, but it never quite gets there. There is a bitterness that immediately strikes the tongue and lingers throughout.

(Mouthfeel): Lightly carbonated and kind of dull. I find it hard to put into words, but where most hefe's tend to be kind of wheaty and refreshing, the Kellerweis is just kind of...there.

(Drinkability): When it comes to hefeiwezen, you either make it worthy or unworthy, and theres rarely an inbetween. I'd stack this in the "No Drink" pile with Widmer and Erdinger Hefeweizen. Maybe I got a bad bottle, but for the time being, I would strongly recommended Ayinger's Brau Weisse or Haufbrau Hefeweizen over this one.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2011 23:19:15 | More by GilmooDaddy

dar482

New York

3.25/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

It comes in a bright yellow color like a Sunny D.

The taste is a bit too mellow and lacks depth. It has banana and warm citrus flavor. It is yeasty a bit, but it cleans off the tongue too fast. I want strong bolder flavors and more body, like the German wheats.

I would recommend going with the German wheats or Beglian wheats.

Serving type: on-tap

03-01-2013 06:14:08 | More by dar482

COBeerBuff

Kansas

3.28/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours a nice hazy yellowish blonde color with a bright white finger of head. Tons of tiny bubbles slowly make their ascent towards the white capped summit. The head dissipates quickly leaving a thin white film across the top of the beer.

Smell: Spices of cinnamon and clove dominate the nose. Most Hefe's and the label claim that strong notes of banana should be prevalent, but I'm not detecting very much here. There is definitely a sweet fruit smell, but it's not discernibly banana.

Taste: Banana! Aha! The sweet fruit taste is clearly banana. The spices of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg liven up this delightful little brew. Overall, the flavors meld well to create a very nice Hefe.

Mouthfeel: The initial sip is light, but the creaminess of the Hefe soon envelops the tongue. This beer has serious potential to hang around for a while.

Drinkability: While relatively low in ABV, the stickiness of the mouthfeel prevents this from being a very sessionable beer for me. I might be able to have one or two in a sitting, but this may end up serving as a warm-up for more flavorful beers in the long run.

Serving type: bottle

07-20-2009 00:50:54 | More by COBeerBuff

Kemmerlin

Colorado

3.28/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: poured a thick hazey golden color with a big white head to crown the glass.
S: the smell only intensified my appetite for this brew. Sweet hay and citrus and coriander graced the nose.
T: this is where the beer lost me. There is a tasty banana flavor hitting the front pretty hard bu dies out quickly and leaves this nasty skunk bitter taste afterwards. I would
never expect this from a Sierra Nevada brew so I am assuming I got a bad batch. I'll definitely try it again at some point and probably modify my post.
M/D: the beer wasn't flat but felt flat and light something I didn't expect from a Hefe. Because of the taste and feel it wasn't very drinkable it took me forever to get the desire to drink the next in the six pack.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2010 00:42:50 | More by Kemmerlin

IsaacmanTX

3.3/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Somehow, the whole is over the sum of its parts on this one. I truly enjoyed this more than each of my individual category reviews revealed. Not spectacular, but definitely respectable. Warning, this is included in my first 20 reviews. apparently not enough characters...

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2012 00:45:26 | More by IsaacmanTX

BarryMFBurton

Indiana

3.33/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Finally, a reason to bust out my hefe glass –hopefully Kellerweis will be another classic from Sierra Nevada. Cheers!

Brewed about six months ago: bottled at 7:07 a.m. on September 7, 2011 (good old bottle codes).

A: Perfect hefeweizen look, starting with the thick, hazy body – like orange juice with a little more of a brown color. A huge white head, the perfect amount of foam to fill the remaining four fingers of my glass to the brim, settles to a foamy retention with a ton of webby lacing. A bubbling, off-white, half-inch cream is all that remains about three minutes after the pour.

S: Yeasty, fruity, and pretty spicy; it’s definitely a hefeweizen nose, but with a big American character. Banana, clove, coriander, and ester are all there, the full yeasty richness you’d expect, followed by a kick of orange peel, pine, white pepper, and hickory (again, that American potpourri). Ends on a familiar creamy note of vanilla and light breads.

T: Smooth and very mild, even softer than most of the beers I’ve had in this style of light palates. A light, watery lemon juice taste mixes with some breadiness over from the yeasts, along with vanilla and toffee. A bit of lavender floweriness via the lightly bitter hops and more herbs from the nose, with a good hit of wheat and straw right after. The palate is light, and so is the aftertaste, finishing it out with just a hint of lemon and grain.

M: A nice creamy texture is the most noticeable feature here, but the feel is marked with a certain thinness. Only a tiny hint of carbonation.

O: A pretty good beer, but really, really mild. Sometimes it feels a little dull; it never truly disappoints as a hefe, though. Nice to see how Sierra Nevada does the German beer thing.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2012 22:57:31 | More by BarryMFBurton

yemenmocha

Arizona

3.35/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours hazy golden with white head. Nose is the typical banana/clove but not terribly assertive with banana. On the palate the banana is weak as well, but plenty of herbal flavors, hops come through too, and a decent clove/spice in the mix. Wheat cracker is present. Carbonation is good and feels fuller bodied than most weissbiers.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2009 05:30:40 | More by yemenmocha

Suds

Pennsylvania

3.35/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

My wife bought me this beer. It's an appropriately hazy, cloudy golden-yellow color. The head is a little thin and soapy...a white that falls quickly into wisps. The smell is heavy of wheat...twangy, citric, gristy, and a bit of yeast. There's no hops in the smell...it's a typical and unremarkable hefe smell. The taste is full of yeast, wheat, and orange peals. Medium in body. It's a decent beer, but nothing outstanding.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2010 19:16:11 | More by Suds

mytireisfat

Colorado

3.35/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. First with leaving a half inch of beer at bottom, then with pouring 3/4 into glass then swirling bottle and pour rest into glass.

A: One finger head that retains well, little lacing, cloudy yellow color, lots of bubbles. yeast at bottom of bottle.

S: Fruity smell, and hops smell when leaving half inch of beer at bottom. when mixing yeast, the yeast had an over powering smell of yeast.

T: Same as smell. a bit to light. didn't pick up a whole lot. little to light. when mixing yeast with beer, had a over powering yeast taste.

M: Light body, medium carbonation.

D: easy to drink. a bit to weak for a hefeweizen. the first beer i had i poured the whole thing in, leaving about a half inch of beer to keep yeast out. got some smell and flavor out of it making it an ok beer. then i read the bottle( i alway read the bottle after i have my first beer so it doesnt change my own idea of the beer). it says to pour 2 thirds of the beer then swirl and pour the rest. after doing this on my second, the yeast was to over powering. really didnt like it after doing this. For the rest of the six pack ill stick to leaving the yeast out. wont buy again. would drink again tho, if its free...

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2010 06:56:38 | More by mytireisfat

bshotbox

3.35/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

really do enjoy nearly everything from Sierra, these guys are awesome. I always think of beers from Sierra to be very hop forward, however they have really done well with this one. I am not a huge fan of wheat beers but they do have there place in the beer world and I would say if I was to stray from the classic German versions, this is where I would go.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2012 16:40:53 | More by bshotbox

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.38/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours cloudy a pale amber with a small head that quickly fades to nothing.
Nose shows mostly bready wheat and cloves, with some ripe banana, almost confectionery-like, later.
Flavours are mostly the same but quite weak, almost watery, with hardly any finish. A weak and boring bitterness becomes apparent later, but makes the beer no more interesting.
Could do with more carbonation.
Overall, quite ho-hum, nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2009 08:36:30 | More by CrazyDavros

alkemy

Ohio

3.38/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Two fingers of bright white head atop of a cloudy golden yellow. The head dissipated quickly. The smell has lots of banana, but there's a sour note present that is very unsettling...it's almost reminiscent of my collegiate bathroom floor on a Sunday morning after a party. Taste is much better. Banana and clove dominate followed by a mild orange flavor. Minus the scent this beer isn't bad, but the taste isn't enough to make me a fan.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2010 02:52:30 | More by alkemy

nano

Mexico

3.38/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured in a weizenglass from a 12oz bottle

a- yellow color with a nice 2 inch head

s- clove, bubblegum and a littlebit of bannana

t- clove and bannana bread, no too tasty

m- medium body with a good carbonation

D- nice sesion beer, I love Sierra Nevada brews but I'm a little bit disapointed with this one, I was expecting more

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2010 02:12:59 | More by nano

Sudsy89

Florida

3.38/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12oz. bottle, chilled.

Pours a hazy, almost opaque dark yellow, with a quickly-dissipating head. Seems to have a low level of carbonation. Aroma and taste mostly consist of ripe banana and wheat, with a slight hop taste. hint of spice. Medium-bodied mouthfeel, I didn't find it to be visually appealing, looked like muddy water almost, and I think the flavor is just OK. At 4.8% abv, this beer would be decent for a few bottles, but I wouldn't want a bunch, I just prefer others like Franziskaner Weissbier. So far this is the only beer from Sierra Nevada that I've not been really happy with.

Serving type: bottle

01-18-2011 04:55:29 | More by Sudsy89