Heifer weizen, sounds like a brainy bovine. But no, it’s not a crafty cow but rather a craft quaff, last night’s brew to be precise. We have our French Canadian brewer of the week, 3 Brasseurs, brewing a German style beer with a Japanese name. The COMDB translation department worked over-time on this one. Hefe-weizen is a traditional Bavarian (as opposed to Belgian) wheat beer, the translation department was quick to rattle off the German literal translation of “yeast-wheat”.
As for the Japanese name, they ponder and puzzled a bit over that. They tell us “Jōzō” means “brewing” or “brew”. Fair enough, makes sense. But “Ka’ has many meanings, the principal one is to make the statement into a question. In this way it could mean “Brew?” as in “is this beer”, or more likely “would you like a brew?” However, when used in a certain context it can become what we would call a rhetorical question, which in my case is the most likely case if you are asking me if I would like a beer. The more pertinent question is will I like this beer.
The wheat genre is not typically a chart topper with COM.* I’m not a weizen guy, usually. I mean, I’ll have a Belgian wheat beer once in a blue moon but that’s once too often for me. Even though life isn’t fair, every one (and every beer) deserves a fair shake, so it’s time to pour and score.
A light golden pour, but the Bavarian wheats are usually a little darker than their Belgian brethren. A bit hazy but not bubbly, with slim trim bright white head. I didn’t get much of an aroma at all, no nose. It starts out with a mild malt body, a bit fizzy with subtle pepper and a bit of banana. I must acclimatize myself to this one. All the elements have come together nicely here. I think what they got right is the balance and the subdued flavours. The malt body is the backbone and the very subtle spices and fruit and slight carbonation all work in unison. Is bashful Bavarian an oxymoron? Not my fave beer type but this is a good one.
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