I decided I should make a Beer of the Month thread, in which I will disclose to you, my fellow Mycomaniacs, the current brew I'm sipping on. As most of you know, I order ALOT of imported beer (2 cases a week to be exact) and many of these brews are not well-known, but can be easily obtained. So without further ado...
April Beer of the Month:
Paulaner Hefe Weiss Wheat Beer
Imported From: Germany
Price: $2.79 for 16oz
This beer comes straight from the breweries of Paulaner, located in a remote region of Munich, Germany, somewhere in the mountains. It is imported by a company in the White Plains area of New York (where most of our imports come from). Here is a brief history of the company:
Brewed in Munich, Germany, Paulaner is known worldwide for its quality. The Paulaner monks brewed the first Paulaner beer in 1627. During the Lenten period forced to fast on only bread and water, the monks reasoned that beer could be brewed as "liquid bread" and not violate their Lenten promise. The Paulaner monks' "liquid bread" became the world's first Double Bock - Paulaner Salvator. Those were some enterprising monks who changed brewing history forever.
And a little history about the beer itself:
Paulaner Hefe-Weizen is the company's flagship style and brings the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of Munich's beer gardens to America. It is a classic Bavarian wheat beer. "Hefe" in German translates to yeast and "Weizen" (pronounced Vi-Zen) translates to wheat. Yeast retained in the beer is responsible for the cloudy appearance of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. A centrifuge process is used with traditional wheat beers to retain the yeast instead of the typical filtering process used with beers that are clear in appearance. Paulaner Hefe-Weizen contains 60% malted wheat and 40% malted barley.
Wheat beer was originated in the German state of Bavaria in the 15th century. In Bavaria today wheat beers represent almost 20% of the beer category and Paulaner is one of the fastest growing at an average rate of nearly 10% per year since 1995.* While the wheat beer segment in the U.S. is much smaller, the style is gaining more attention. The reason why isn't too hard to figure out – wheat beers offer an extremely refreshing taste. Paulaner Hefe-Weizen is refreshment made for relaxing with friends any time of the year.
I hope you guys enjoyed this installment of Beer of the Month, and check back next month for more! Now get back to drinking, yous bastids!
~CK
