Paulaner Hefe Weissbier Naturtrub

Recently one of the local grocery stores here has been expanding their imported beer selection. First they ran a special at Christmas with a build a 5-pack idea. Even though the beer is still about twice as much as you'd pay in the States, it's encouraging to see more options available to Koreans.

I picked this German beer up about a week ago. It claimed to be from Munich, so I figured I should at least give it a shot as I don't see many German brews here (even at Oktoberfest!).

When I poured the beer I was surprised a bit by the color and the lack of cloudiness that is usually typical in German wheat beers (caused by not filtering out the yeast). Side note "hefe" means "yeast" in German, hence why hefeweissbier and hefeweizen are usually cloudy as they're unfiltered. I quickly realized the reason for a more transparent beer. As I only have a half glass (hard to find big glasses here), I have to pour the bottle of beer twice. Sure enough, on the second pour, the beer was much more cloudy and there was more flavor which of course makes sense when you consider how a this type of beer is supposed to be poured. Some people might not like the stronger yeast flavor that is often present in unfiltered brews, but I'm a big fan. When I brewed in the U.S., we bottle conditioned pretty much every batch as it was the easiest (and for some, the most preferred) way to carbonate the beer. Each bottle then was unfiltered to that extent and there were always some stuff floating around in the beer no matter the type we were brewing. Some fellow brewers and consumers didn't like it as much, and wouldn't pour out the last of the bottle just to avoid most of it which had settled on the bottom. I don't mind things floating in my beer, especially in a homebrew. I find it adds character and is a good reminder of the process. But to each his own.

Overall it was a solid wheat beer. Nice hints of citrus, light on the mouth with a smooth finish, not too carbonated, and a solid flavor. It's just too bad that it was cold outside when I had it. Wheat beers in the summer hit the spot, but this one was still a nice treat.