I was recently challenged to a brewing duel, and when I heard what it was, I couldn’t believe it: Weizenbock. I love brewing Weizenbock! I wonder if Ray challenged me to it because he’d overheard me saying that I don’t really drink it much? Well, if so, his (potential) loss because even though I’m not a fan of drinking Weizenbocks, I really do dig making them. What other beer style gives you that much room for creativity, experimentation, and sheer complexity? Sure, I’d rather sit down with a German Pilsner or British pale ale or American amber, just to drink—but I love being able to offer a big, rich, fruity Weizenbock to my guests! Anyone with a heart condition must leave the room!
Style
Lots of people compare this beer to Dunkelweizen, but I think that’s a poor comparison: instead, I think of Weizenbock as a cross between a banana protein shake and Belgian Dubbel. It has a similar phenol profile (clove, pepper) to a Belgian Dubbel, the same dark pit-fruit flavors, and very similar vital stats, but it adds a big banana nose and a rich flavor that seems like it should feel heavy but still drinks pretty easily! It runs from amber to light brown, and features the same basic fermentation characteristics as the other German wheat beers while adding in the malt profile of a traditional bock.
Strange as it sounds, the wheat is almost the least interesting thing in this beer, what with everything else going on. My older recipes included mostly wheat; I wasn’t getting much flavor out of it (that I could tell), but it was playing hell with my sparges, so I started swapping in more Vienna malt instead, and wow! did the spice really kick off! But to keep what I’m sure are my numerous German brewing ancestors happy, I still leave the wheat at a bit over 50 percent, so this is properly a “wheat” beer.