REVIEW 58: SCHNEIDER WEISSE TAP 6 UNSER AVENTINUS

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Germany

BREWERY:  Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH

STYLE:  Weizenbock

ABV:  8.2%

PURCHASE:  N/A (gift)

SERVING:  25-oz. bottle, poured into Chimay-branded chalice. A typical pour resulted in a head of roughly a half-inch. (In a pint glass, this probably would have been a full inch or so.) A faster pour on Round 2 yielded a head of 3/4 of an inch. Not much retention in either case; then again, that's not what these beers are known for, and that's not of vital importance anyway!

APPEARANCE:  Dark ruby-brown color; from a visual standpoint, comes off like a cross between prune juice, cola, and chocolate. Effervescent. Light beige-tinted head. Lacing is non-existent--but again: That's not what these beers are known for, and that's not of vital importance anyway!

BOUQUET:  Wow. Pressed wheat notes abound along with dark fruit essences; this seems to be the case with a lot of German and Belgian beers of this variety. It's an outstanding combination if you ask me. Bitter chocolate notes also surface to mesh with the fig and plum. But there's more here and it's a bit of a mystery. Banana is detectable. And, admittedly, after consulting other online reviews to confirm my own intuition, I can attest to a subtle peppermint presence. Seems like it would throw things off, but it works, and it works frighteningly well.

PALATE:  Slightly heavy body with softly onsetting carbonation. Fig plays a prominent role in the overall taste. This is a mouthfeel that is subtle yet rich at the same time. Very, very well-balanced between malted grain (namely wheat) and dark fruit (namely fig and plum). Finish is rife with spice undertones that weren't really discernible in the aroma: Pepper, coriander, clove, and possibly allspice. Roasty aftertaste, characterized by a warming alcohol sensation, but also by touches of banana not as conspicuous elsewhere.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  This is one of those beers that, in a beer snob's mind, prompts the question: What is the best beer country, Germany or Belgium?*

I still lean toward the latter, but this one bolsters the case for Deutschland. Formerly known simply as Schneider Aventinus, this is a weizenbock, which is basically a stronger dunkelweizen. The main elements are the same: Dark visual appearance, dark fruit essences, wheat, some spicy undertones. 

A near-perfect beer. 




GRADE:  A

*The U.S. is probably third, for me.