Steinhaus Brewing Co. - Mission Street Hefeweizen

I stand corrected.

Not only was Mission Street's Hefeweizen NOT the train wreck I was expecting it to be after trying their Brown Ale, it was actually pretty good. I think if anything, this beer is proof that no matter what anyone else says, it's always a good idea to try things and decide for yourself.

Before we get to the actual review, let's learn a little about the Hefeweizen- one of the most popular beer styles in the world. Hefeweizen comes from two different German words: Hefe- meaning "with yeast" and Weizen- meaning "with wheat." The end result is a typically sweeter and fruity tasting beer that is usually a light cloudy brown. The "wheat" in the name comes from the wheat malts that are used to make the beer rather than the barley malts present in many other beers. Typically, hefeweizens have a lot of banana flavor to them. This sounds weird to a lot of people who may not think the words "banana" and "beer" should go together. When I was in Germany, they even had a stronger version called a "bananenweizen." This is a specialty beer made to really emphasize the banana flavors in the hefeweizen. Hefeweizens are one of the most popular beers, mainly because they just taste so good. They're not offensively bitter like many IPAs and they are light and smooth, some even taking on characteristics that seem more like a soda than a beer. For this reason, a Hef is a really great style to start on if you're trying to get into beer. It's an easy beer to drink and usually an easy beer to drink a lot of. What more could you ask for?

Mission Street's Hef is a very good representation of the style. It poured a nice cloudy and sandy color with some pretty strong fruity aromas right off the bat. The banana flavor was definitely there, but not as potent as a hef like a Fransiskaner (Note: if you want to see what I was talking about as far as banana flavors in beer go, try a Fransiskaner). There was a hint of spiciness behind the fruitiness, which was really nice and added a little complexity to the taste. There was also a surprising amount of carbonation, which brought out the flavors nicely. Frankly, I couldn't believe that a beer this full could possibly be made by the same brewery as the brown ale. That's more like it, Mission Street. This isn't the best hef I've ever tried, but it's still a good representation of the style.

Final Grade: B+