My first true love: Hefeweizens

I decided early on in my 20's that if I was going to drink, I wanted to
drink
1. something I enjoyed
2. something with a reasonable ABV to help me pace myself

Beers and ciders were natural conclusions of that choice. This brings me to my first beer love and first topic for this blog: Hefeweizens

Hefeweizens were the first beers I ever had that I truly loved. That love continues to this day 6+ years after I started drinking. There is a softness to hefeweizens that make them an extremely approachable and welcoming first favorite beer.

German beer styles tend to be my favorite as I don't like bitter flavors and the balanced profile of these beers are very appealing to me. I will definitely be touching on more of them in coming posts (Berliner Weisses, Goses, Kölsches, Pilsners, etc)

Hefs have low ABV, low IBUs, and low maltiness. The grain and yeast really shine especially in an unfiltered hef.

I would like to give a special shout out to local brewery 3 Mile for making the best American made Hefeweizen I've ever had. (Pictured below) My go to German Hef is Fransizkaner's. I could drink those little guys all day!

Hefeweizens are a huge reason why summer is my favorite beer season. I would say that there is no better beer on a hot day than a hefeweizen and I'm always thrilled when it gets rotated in as a summer seasonal, putting them on shelves and in tap lines. My personal favorite component of hef's flavor is when you get some banana notes to sparkle.

I love the easy drinking, not too filling, light and refreshing profile of a hefeweizen.

The thing I love about beer is that there are flavors I experience with beers that I can't find anywhere else. Nothing else can approximate the taste of a hefeweizen, or any other beer for that matter.

What was your first beer love? Was it Hamm's? Maybe a porter or stout? IPA? Do you still love that style? What's your favorite hefeweizen? I would love to talk to you about beer! Follow me on instagram, twitter or untappd @jennegatron!