Beer Review: Sierra Nevada Kellerweis

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Kellerweis Hefeweizen

Summer is the time of hefeweizen for me. I through in other beers to mix it up but these unfiltered wheat beers are my warm weather drink of choice. This is also one of the few open fermentation hefeweizens produced in America. The hefe gets a rich white head to start out with that lingers with some slight lacing. The kellerweis is very cloudy and has a nice golden color. Full aroma of malt and banana, kinda like banana bread.

The open fermentation really pays off. Rich banana smoothly yields to the golden malt. Some clove is present but mainly banana. Hops are barely present but they aren't important in this style. The beer finishes with a slightly spicy wheat aftertaste which is good with the high carbonation. The wheat flavor is also closer to how I prefer it with it not being overly intense or puckering. This is a deep and tremendously drinkable beer.

Amazing beer. This is definitely one of my top two hefeweizens. Maybe even my favorite. The only one that I can say for sure is on par with this is the Sixpoint Eight Days of Wheat beer. I love a good hefeweizen that is dominated by banana. I wish more beers came unfiltered. I really don't know why most beers are filtered. The yeast adds flavor and loads of hangover preventing B-vitamins. This beer is better than all of the Bavarian hefeweizens I have tried. Sierra Nevada hit a home run with this and the fact that this is available year round is a great thing.

Final Score: 96% (Amazing Hefeweizen. World Class.)