Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier - Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

WVbeergeek

Ohio

3.8/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: The filtered approach leaves me feeling empty b/c it looks like an average lager not the world reknowned oldest brewery in the world's weiss bier. Filtered golden tone with a nice sized fizzy white head leaves sporadic lacing not bad though. Aroma: Lacks upfront banana and clove tone more two row grain then anything else with a touch of Hallertau hops. Taste: Decent flavor definitely the best filtered weizen I've tasted, does coat the palate with the familiar banana and clove tones but I will admit seems a bit unrewarding. Mouthfeel: Spritzy effervescent carbonation levels, medium to light bodied wheat ale. Drinkability: Is pretty good but hand me a regular hefeweizen anyday, just had the Weihenstephaner on draft at the Sharp Edge awesome stuff.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2004 04:31:42 | More by WVbeergeek

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a clear straw color with no head after the little bit that first shows quickly dissipates. Nose is yeasty with a touch of lemon. Taste is sweet and evenly so. Even as it warms the flavor stays constant. Mouthfeel has a good carbonation to it and an even feel. Highly drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2007 06:20:14 | More by RblWthACoz

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.83/5  rDev -5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a clear light gold color with a huge white head. Nose has smell of cloves and a slight wheat and funk. Taste is light, slightly malty with a hint of banana, smooth finish. Excellent drinkability, a good session beer. Good beer overall would recommend to anyone who desires the style.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2009 02:10:07 | More by barleywinefiend

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Filtered clear, light gold color. Impressive white head that leaves extensive lace.

Nice sour smell of raw wheat. There's light hop in the background.

Frothy taste of light (watery, even) malt up front. Weak wheat that also features some definitive sourness. Short aftertaste of mild citrus. Very light body with a high level of carbonation.

Not my cup of tea--this beer has no flaws but is otherwise very pedestrian.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2010 00:23:30 | More by smcolw

Wasatch

Utah

4.03/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear golden yellow color, awesome carbonation, nice small foamy white head, nice lacing afterwards. The nose is of malts, hops, yeast, banannas, clove, and some spices. The taste is malty/hoppy, the belgium yeast, and a little spicy. The finish is smooth and slightly dry. Light-Medium body. Very drinkable, another very good brew from Weihenstephaner.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2007 01:10:42 | More by Wasatch

jdhilt

New Hampshire

3.38/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a five finger white head that fades quickly to a thin layer leaving some lace. Clear amber color. Light carbonation and light-medium bodied. Lemon/yeast nose. Starts sweet lemony, with wheat and yeast flavor, finish is squeaky clean. Would be a great summer beer. $2.99 for a 500ml bottle from John's Grocery Iowa City, Ia.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2006 23:40:59 | More by jdhilt

Jason

Massachusetts

4.2/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 500 ml (16.9 oz) slender brown bottle with info about the beer on the back label as well as the freshness date.

Appearance: Rich shimmering clear golden colour and an effervescent bubby carbonation forms a thin yet unwavering white lace.

Smell: Fruity of bananas and pears with hints of melon and placid clove spice aroma. Trace wheat malt in the nose, cracker-like maltiness.

Taste: Modest body with a crisp solid carbonation that is both slightly sharp in the bite and fluffy in the mouth feel. Quick to the sharpness of the carbonation and spicy clove character gives a tingling sensation which cleans the palate. Fruity flavours lay subdued in the back though some alcoholic esters are obvious. Hops are nearly nonexistent with only a minute trace of flavour towards the end. Wheat malt is straightforward with a nutty and mild acidic twang more towards the finish. Relatively clean after taste with some remaining spicy wheat flavours.

Notes: Drinkable without a doubt with a palate cleansing quality, certainly good drinking and a great lunch time brew. Goes excellent with a cobb salad.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2002 06:55:44 | More by Jason

Billolick

New York

4.3/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Mid sized bottle, no feshness indication to be found. This brew pours quite light straw and very clear. Expansive white head early, minor head late and minimal lacing. Nose is crisp and clean with a hint of lime and yeast picked up. This is a fresh tasting beer, citrus, light banana, yeast picked up. This is a fine summer brew, great for newbies, refreshing. Easy style and beer to like. well worth enjoying with light food.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2005 12:41:34 | More by Billolick

mdfb79

New York

4/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Picked this up yesterday at Rick's in Alexandria, VA for $2.99. Poured from a 16.9 oz. bottle into a weizen glass. This is my first beer in the kristalweizen style; one more down, only 5 to go.

a - Pours a very transparent bright yellow color with two fingers plus of fluffy white head and high carbonation evident. Head only lasts for a minute and leaves no lacing. Very carbonated, bottle was a very slow gusher when I opened it.

s - Smells of cloves, wheat, musty notes, earthy notes, bready malts, and very light bananas. Nice and crisp, getting more spices than bananas or fruit. While I like it, the musty notes drop it a tiny bit for me.

t - Tastes of bananas, cloves, spices, wheat, bready malts, grains, earthy notes, and light floral notes. More hefeweizen notes than the nose and more bananas, though seems a little bit like a watered down version of their hefe. Still very nice though and a step up from the nose.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Was actually expecting it to be too carbonated based on the look but thankfully it wasn't. Easy to drink.

o - Overall I thought this was a good beer and I enjoyed it. It isn't my favorite Weihenstephaner beer, but for the style it was exactly what I was expecting. A good beer I'd certainly have agan, though personally I'd get their classic hefeweizen over this.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2011 22:03:55 | More by mdfb79

weeare138

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appears a transparent light gold with a 2 finger head of white froth that doesn't want to drop. Plenty of co2 streams rise to the top of the glass. Little droplets of lacing are left around the glass.
Aromas of banana, vanilla, clove, citrus, and light apple are apparent...same as the hefe but perhaps less phenolic and in your face.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with the same statement holding true in comparison to the hefe, which I tasted side by side.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied with decent carbonation tickling the palate during the swallow.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2008 13:25:05 | More by weeare138

Zorro

California

4/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear golden brew with a nice white head.

Smell is banana and spices and grains, faintly wheaty and cloves.

Taste is mildly sweet and spicy with a mild hop flavor.

Mouthfeel is well thought out, very creamy.

Very drinkable brew, good any time any place.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2004 02:22:12 | More by Zorro

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Shared this bottle with biegaman on a fine spring day out on the patio.

Pours with a slight chill haze, otherwise a brilliant straw colour, very healthy looking, wine wine colour, thick white head, nice lace spots, settles to a thin layer. Smell is light banana, some clove, bread, bisuity malts, mild aroma but quite nice, refreshing. Taste is sweet and malty, honey, light banana, light spice finish, wheat, bread, again very refreshing. Mouthfeel is light bodied with medium to high carbonation, very lively and quenching. Nice beer, not as complex and flavourful as a weiss but very enjoyable. Thanks Jan!

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2007 17:41:34 | More by Viggo

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.47/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This brew really is a crystal clear light straw color. Big rocky white head with nice retention tops the brew. Really nice nose. Some wezen characteristics like banana and vanilla, but also a nice scent of belgian-like yeast. Very solid vanilla and banana tastes on the palate. Spicy, peppery notes also dance around. This is a little more subdued in the tastes than a great German Hefe-weizen. But this is really nice. I like this a lot. I haven't had many kristall weiss beers. I must say that I will be trying more in the future to see how they compare to this one.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2002 20:04:33 | More by Bighuge

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a clear golden yellow color with a big foamy white head that lasts through out leaving chunky lacing in the glass. Crisp light fruit aroma with wheat, apple, citrus peel and banan notes. Very carbonated up front with crisp citrus fruit and slightly sour finish. Flavor similar to aroma with hints of golden apple, lemon/orange/grapefruit peel and banana. Crisp sour fruit presence with a slightly dry finish. Very refreshing!

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2009 04:39:54 | More by corby112

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.06/5  rDev -24.1%
look: 2.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours blechy yellow. Well carbonated, decent aroma of the more common than you'd think banana and straw malt.

Taste is good enough for a kristal. Mildly impressed, thought it would be worse frankly. Has some zip and zest to it, yeast imbibes a neat, but restrained fruity appeal. Mouthfeel, doesn't go anywhere, but that's ok, it starts out good enough. Drinkable moreso in hot weather I'd imagine.

Too expensive ($5) per bottle to warrant a return.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2009 22:59:31 | More by Beerandraiderfan

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.53/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pint bottle, poured into a Franziskaner Weissbier glass, looks good, large head, which stayed a while, shrinking, but staying. light, bright golden colour with bubbles rising up the beer, bursting through head.

The aroma is of wheat and bannana's, not as strong as other Weissbiers I have tried, but still in the nose. Maybe the process that clears the beer also takes away some of the aroma?

Refeashing, clean taste, with wheat winning the battle of flavours over bannana and vanilla, but only just.

Taste stays, getting more bitter as the mouth dries, take a long time between sips to feel this sensation.

I would drink another one, but I will not go looking for it. I would like to try a few more Kristall Weissbiers (I have drank others, many years ago, on tap and in bottles) before I can say this is one of the best or not. If my memory serves me correctly, this fits in around the middle of the style for taste and enjoyment.

This beer was drank, as I reviewed it, on a Sunday afternoon at home (19 Nov 2006).

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2006 14:41:12 | More by BlackHaddock

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.95/5  rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500ml bottle purchased from Dan Murphy's in Alexandria.

Pours with exceptionally large amounts of carbonation: swirling, frothing anarchy inside my weizen glass. This promotes a ridiculous head of fluffy, meringue white that sits in puffy insolence over the top of the glass. Body has all the clarity you expect, but this seems more to be about the head. Indeed, the carbonation seems to force it ever higher, meaning that after a few minutes where I though it had settled down, it pushed over the edge of the glass. Very vibrant in any case.

Although banana is the expected dominant character here, I get pear, pear and more pear. Fresh sharp skin characters and a slight metallic twang, possibly from the wheat. It mingles with a faint peppery yeasty character, perhaps the clove spice playing against the pear. It's sharper and brighter than a typical hefeweizen nose, and has a uniqueness all to itself. Great stuff.

Taste is light and pleasant, but perhaps scoured of character a little more than the nose suggested. Here there's a light, sweet grain character and a faint smoothed bitterness towards the back, reminiscent of that metallic character on the nose. The fruitiness sticks around the edges, but doesn't really provide any depth or complexity. It leaves a touch of pear skin on the finish. It's fine, really, but I was hoping this could blow my conceptions of Kristals out of the water.

Feel is good. Despite the overt carbonation, it's rather soft on the palate, with a light cushioning of bubbles on the back.

Overall, there's no doubting this is a well-crafted and well-made beer. It's also a very good Kristalweizen, a style which I feel is often overlooked. Of the ones I've tried, I think Schneider's is better, but this makes a very worthy stablemate to Weihenstephaner's other excellent beers.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 05:40:38 | More by lacqueredmouse

DoubleJ

California

3.55/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Welcome to the Weihenstephaner Invitational! A gift pack featuring four different styles of beer will be competing with one another to take the top prize in this competition. Wei's Kristallweissbier will be the first to be judged, as we are set to go:

Where's the yeast? Oh, it's a filtered wheat beer. It looks more like a lager with its clear blonde appearance and action of carbonation. A big head rises on top of that. Very nice. Taking out the yeast has allowed other flavors to pull out, such as spice and lemon. A lot of malted wheat in the taste, with very little bitterness. Very clean and tart in the back of the tongue. Light feel, but it fits the style.

Wei's Kristallweissbier scores pretty well here in the first of four samples, and we'll be back as soon as their Hefeweissbier flexes its muscles...

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2007 16:52:14 | More by DoubleJ

glid02

Georgia

4.1/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle purchased from Green's on Ponce in Atlanta.

Pours a yellowish-straw color with a two-finger white head. The head dissipates slowly into a thin layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of light, sweet malts, with good amounts of ripe bananas and hints of clove.

Tastes similar to how it smells. The malt flavors kick things off and stay strong throughout, allowing a showing from banana flavors and a milder showing from clove flavors midway through the sip. The ending is crisp and leaves a bit of banana flavors lingering on the palate.

Mouthfeel is good. It has a good thickness with active carbonation.

Drinkability is very good. My glass went down very quickly and I'm sorry to say I didn't have another available.

Overall the flavors in this beer are similar in profile but lesser in scope than the full-fledged hefeweizen, however both are absurdly drinkable. Worth a shot.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2009 02:35:15 | More by glid02

Gusler

Arizona

3.88/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

The beer pours a cloudless light gold color, the head prestigious in size, the color a dazzling white, and the lace diaphanous sheets that cling steadily to the glass. Nose crisp and clean, malt dominates with light hints of citrus, and maybe a touch of yeast. Malt sweet at the start, with a middling mouth feel, the finish is curtly acidic, the hops purposeful in the spiciness, aftertaste quite dry and long lasting. The delicate balance of hops, malt, wheat, and perfection maybe another word to describe this beer

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2002 07:39:31 | More by Gusler

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a light pale straw gold with a billowy white head.

S: a nice spicy aroma of cloves and bananas.

T: The initial flavor was fresh bread, bananas with light lemon hints. The palate was clean, crisp and light pretty much stripped of its flavor. Was like having French fries without the salt. Pleasant with a dry fizzy champagne finish.

M: The mouthful is thin of course, smooth with a lively carbonation.

D: A very clean finish and light drinking weiss.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2008 16:24:16 | More by beerthulhu

DrJay

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Crystal clear and gold with a fluffy, bright white head. Lots of carbonation is apparent in the body. Clumpy lacing. Sweet aromas of ripe mashed bananas, wheat crackers, lemony with a bit of clove. Lemon zest up front in the flavour, more sweet bananas, followed by drying wheat and spice. Light to medium bodied with perhaps a bit more carbonation than needed. Very refreshing and quite tasty.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2010 19:19:35 | More by DrJay

plaid75

New York

3.5/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Ion draft at The Good Life, Massapequa Park, NY.

Poured a dark straw hue with a half finger white cap.

The smell featured light esters and a touch of sweetness.

The taste was dominated by yeast esters with some wheat chew and a sloppy sweetness.

The mouthfeel was full and the sweetness left a heavy sensation.

Overall a decently tasty ale. The sweetness was a bit offsetting.

Serving type: on-tap

07-27-2011 23:31:45 | More by plaid75

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Weihenstephaner Kristall is much clearer than a typical weissbier, but isn't without some smudging haze. Still, it manages a glorious golden-yellow tone that, although the glass stretches only about half a foot to the sun, radiates a great deal of its brightness. Little bubbles float up in unison like you see in one of those 'oxygenator' things that are attached to aquariums. Head is fluffy but incomplete.

The aroma on this Weihenstephaner confirms that you can filter a hefeweizen, but you won't filter out the hefe (yeast) character. Seriously, with every sniff I asked myself "What filtration?" It smells almost (if not, as) effervescent as the classical Weihenstephaner Weissbier which, I may remind you, is widely considered the prototype of the style.

The taste also reminds us that, like the villain in any horror movie, yeast does not die easily. Even more vividly than in the smell, notes of over-ripened banana, apples and pear blend with crisp, sun-kissed straw and wheat and are doused in a lightly peppery, clove-like spice. It is far more assertive a flavour than you typically get with beers this light in colour.

Still, however, the mouthfeel is very clean. Its carbonation is piercingly high but is quenching without compromising on flavour and its texture is simultaneously grainy, creamy, bubbly and spicy. Given the reputation of German brewers in general, and the stellar character of this brewery in particular, it goes without saying that this is superlatively well brewed.

If I could buy the world a Coke... it would actually be a German wheat beer, and why not this one? If the Germans know one thing about brewing it's how to make a beer that is appealing to just about anyone and infinitely drinkable with breakfast, lunch, dinner (or any time in between). This is a full-flavoured but easy drinking beer perfect for those hot, dog days of summer. Like every Weihenstephaner offering, it get's my recommendation.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2011 21:30:31 | More by biegaman

Brad007

Vermont

4.25/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a light gold color with a frothy two-finger head into my pint glass. Clearer than their hefeweizen.

Aroma is light with a decent hint of banana and clove in the nose, followed by wheat malt.

Taste is somewhat tart with strong banana and clove flavors. Smooth and delicious. Somewhat lighter and closer to a witbier.

As mentioned, banana and clove flavors linger a bit. Texture of the beer is similar to a witbier and somewhat more refreshing.

I've never had this style before. I think that a hefeweizen loses certain characteristics when it is filtered. Otherwise, this is very nice and drinkable. It reminds me of a kolsch in terms of drinkability. I like this.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2009 03:14:45 | More by Brad007