Beermas 2013-2014 – Day 09 – Burly Goat Weizenbock – Granville Island Brewing

Read on or click  play below for the enhanced Audio experience.

Thanks go out to Phil for the beer I’m having Today.

This is yet another offering from Granville Island Brewing‘s black notebook series.  I quite enjoyed the last one – the One-Two Punch Belgian IPA (reviewed here) so I am looking forward to giving this one a go.

Stats: OG 19ºP / BU 35 / 650ML / 7.9% alc. vol / Darky Ruby

I’ve never had a Weizenbock (pronounced veye-tssen-bock) but I gather it is a stronger unfiltered version of a Hefeweizen,  at least that’s what this cool website tells me.  In fact – let’s  go to beer school and quote from the website shall we:

Comparable to the barley-based regular Bockbier (see there) a Weizenbock is the strong version of an unfiltered Weissbier or Hefeweizen. It is usually made with 60 to 70% wheat malt (German law requires that a Weizenbier, regardless of strength, be made from at least 50% wheat). The other 30 to 40% tend to be so-called Pils, Vienna or Munich malts. These are pale to amber, and sometimes slightly caramelized barley malts that give the beer a full-bodied mouthfeel, a rich and satisfying malty finish, and—depending on the barley malt’s color—a more or less opaque appearance. While regular Bockbiers are lagers, Weizenbocks are all ales. They are fermented with a special yeast that gives the brew a slightly spicy, clove-like flavor. For more on German wheat beers, see Weissbier.

There we have it – that’s what we can expect,  now let’s crack open the bottle and see what the story is.

The beer pours a dark ruby, appears unfiltered and has very pretty head with uniform bubbling.  The head wants to stay around a good while.

Let’s check the aroma – cloves, banana, wheat.

Let’s taste: SO DELICIOUS!  I’m not joking.  I really like this beer.  The Hefeweizen is one of my favorite beer styles, so a more flavourful and bold version is very welcome.

The Verdict: This is a contender for my favorite Beermas 2013-2014 beer.  Rebuy again and again.

Cheers and see you on Beermas Day 10!

Credit for Freesound samples used in the audio review:
Santa ho ho ho #2.wav from Canucklovingbrit
Santas workshop.wav from Chillzie