Donzoko: Nelson Weisse (England: Hefeweizen: 4.8% ABV)
Visual: Cloudy lemon juice coloured body with a medium sized, off white, mounded head.
Nose: Grapefruit. Carrot. Wheaty flakes. Light peppery bitterness. Tart pineapple. Dried banana flecks. Brown bread. Light apricot.
Body: Vanilla touch. Big tart grapefruit. Tart pineapple. Big bitterness. Oily to resinous hop character. Slight mild peach syrup. Mild cheese funk.
Finish: Resinous. Very bitter. Barbecue charred bits. Pink grapefruit. Mild cheese puff crisps.
Conclusion: Ok, one, this is not a traditional German weisse, instead showing the more hoppy hopfenweisse style. Also, as its name suggests, it uses Nelson Sauvin, so no shit it is not traditional. However since stuff like the amazing Veldenstiener Mandarina Bavaria managed to balance traditional weisse and new hops for something special, I figured still worth pointing out, this is an unusual one.
This says “Fuck it” and goes the super bitter, super hoppy, super tart route. In fact it feels like IPA level and style hopping , so I respect that is just considered a hopfenweisse, not called Weisse IPA or similar for marketing purposes (and yes I know white IPA is a thing that exists, but that feels a different style again to me, being closer to a super hopped Belgian wit)
Anyway, I ramble, there are a few of the more traditional weisse notes here, it is hard to, say, not notice the bittier, thicker texture and mouthfeel of a well made weisse, but traditional style this is not. It is huge and using the beer style as a jumping off point rather than a goal.
But, that does not answer the question that really matters. Is it any good?
Yep, but… you have to reaaallly like hops in a bitter as sod way for this one. It is slightly charred in how it delivers the hops in the finish, which feels a bit rough, but I can live with that for that mix of tart grapefruit and big, peppery bitterness that makes the mainstay, with unexpectedly resinous and hop oil styles as well for a weisse.
The peppery character to the bitterness is one of the few tells of the more traditional weisse style, the other being the aforementioned mouthfeel. Every now and then I get a touch of carrot or dried banana that I associate with a weisse but generally this is an unsubtle tart grapefruit and bitter contrasting assault. I love it.
It is not the distinguished balance of the Veldenstiener Mandarina Bavaria, just a sheer flavor assault, but I’m not complaining. Single minded but what a delicious mind it is.
…
I’m not a zombie I swear.
Background: While Donzo brewing have been doing a lot of Germany beers, they have been concentrating more on the standard lager styles mostly in my experience, so I was happy to see they were spreading into hefeweizens when I saw this. Nelson Sauvin however is not a traditional German hop, coming instead from New Zealand and is one of the first superstar hops that really caught my attention back in the day – I just love the tart flavours it brings. So when I saw this in Independent Spirit I knew it was a must grab. Went with Crass: Penis Envy as backing music.