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Happy Labor Day to everyone. Labor Day usually signifies the beginning of the fall season, but to me it’s a long weekend of trying to hang onto summer for as long as I can. It’s also a time for family cookouts, a final trip to the lake or the beach and one last shot at some great summer beer. As I have stated in a few of my columns, I believe that the Germans still produce the best beers in the world, hands down. So with the long weekend in mind, I wanted to treat myself to a good crisp German beer to get me through all of my Labor Day festivities.
In my travels, I saw lots of Pumpkin beers and plenty of Oktoberfests lining the aisles of the local beer stores. It was difficult to walk by all of these choices, but I had to stay focused on my mission for that special German treat. As my search continued, I went into Sabatini’s Bottle Shop & Bar on Wyoming Ave in Exeter. I heard that Sabatini’s has a great selection of beers so I was intrigued. As I walked in, my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree because I saw aisles and aisles of domestic and imported beers. I was like a kid in a candy store. As I regained my focus, I saw an aisle marked German. Could this be true? A section dedicated to German brews? Yes! The big question now would be, which one do I get?
After an exhausting search, I decided to go to their Beer Bar to make my decision. You see, for some reason I can make a better decision when I am sitting down relaxing with a cold beer. Go figure. While there I saw they had Weissen Edel-Weisse on tap which made this decision very easy.
Sight: As my pilsner glass arrived, I could see a beautiful golden color that changed its hue all the way down the glass along with a cloudiness that is typical of a Heffe Weissen. The 2-inch off white head laced all the way around the glass with a lasting effect. This was an excellent looking beer.
Aroma: As I lifted the glass for a smell, I picked up a nice malty aroma almost like a nice sourdough bread along with floral back notes and a nice hint of clove and banana. It was heavenly to my sense of smell.
Taste: At first sip, you taste those sweet malty flavors right up front followed by a very complex earthly mixture of clove, banana, vanilla and citrus. The carbonation was a bit slight which made this beer very easy to drink. All the flavors blended well to make a very balanced beer.
Overall, the G. Schneider & Sohn’s Weissen Edel-Weisse Ale was a very good beer. I definitely recommend picking some up as a treat for your Labor Day cookout. You have worked hard all year and you deserve it. You can pair this beer up with a nice steak on the grill or some chicken in the smoker. My mouth is watering right now. I recommend you stop by Sabatini’s Bottle Shop & Bar to check out their great selection of beer. You won’t regret it.
