Brew Review – Auslander by Woven Water

The can of Auslander (Foreigner in German) has this slightly cryptic, slightly argumentative description on the back:

“Some laws are made to be broken, as was true for the first Hefeweizen ales produced which brought about the Reinheinsgebot, a purity order to prevent the style from thriving. Because of that, here is to all those Outlanders that fought for their creativity. Proust!”

Let’s provide a little historical background to that statement.

Yes, they are correct in that Auslander Hefeweizen would technically be illegal under the Reinheinsgebot. If you’ve never heard of it, the German Purity Law of 1516 was instituted to state that beer could only be made of three ingredients: malted barley, water, and hops.

They didn’t understand what yeast was back then, and once yeast was discovered, it’s role in the brewing experience led to a rewriting of said purity law.

Auslander is a hefeweizen, a traditional German wheat ale. Therein lies the problem, being made with both malted wheat and molted barley. The exact amounts vary, but some recipes that I have seen leave them both about half and half.

As you may have guessed, it was the addition of malted wheat that would make the Hefeweizen illegal, mainly because of the threat of grain shortages in the early 1500’s in Germany. While you can make beer with both malted barley and malted wheat, you couldn’t make bread with malted barley.

Only the wheat. And it was the bakers that persuaded that portion of the Reinheinsgebot to take effect. Not out of any desire to permanently disable the creativity of German brewers, but to maintain a safe line of raw ingredients for which they can make their bread.

While the can makes this whole issue sound a little bit dark and ominous, they are, in essence, correct.

They are also correct in celebrating the German brewers that kept this style alive, as it’s a fantastic style of beer and Auslander (Hefeweizen, 5.5% ABV) is a fantastic representative of set style.

As far as traditional hefeweizens go, this is perfect and right down the line. Very pale straw color with a hazy outlook and wonderful funky aromas of bubble gum, wet laundry, and a little bit of circus peanut.

I love it so. The flavor is bright and sweet, with bubblegum, banana, clove, maybe even a touch of black licorice in the back, all wonderful flavors and all expertly done.

While Woven Water does not have the legal restrictions on beers that German brewers in the early 1500’s did, it’s nice to know that they will continue to carry the torch for these trailblazers of brewing.

Purity Law be damned.

Drink Florida Craft,

Dave
@floridabeerblog
floridabeerblog@gmail.com

Florida Beer Blog is a part of Florida Beer Media. Find us at FloridaBeerMedia.com.

Listen to the Florida Beer Podcast – Powered by Florida Beer Blog on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more!

Get 10% off a new Stone Brewing mini fridge from NewAir with code FLORIDABEER10!

If you’re looking for awesome beer glass or cigar gifts, make sure to head to GroovyGuyGifts.com!