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I remember the first hefeweizen I had. It was made by Widmer, and I didn't like it. The second time I tried it, I noticed there were pouring instructions on the box/bottle.

The instructions said to pour two thirds of the beer in to a glass, swirl, then pour the remainder. They even have an official YouTube video on it. I gave it a try, and maybe it was my imagination, but it tasted surprisingly different. I liked it.

What does rolling/swirling a hefeweizen actually do?

rtf
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1 Answers1

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A proper hefeweizen is an unfiltered beer. The yeast and other sediment that would be filtered out for other brews is left in. These particles tend to accumulate on the bottom of the bottle during storage.

By swirling the the beer in the bottle you're suspending that yeast and sediment so it can be poured into your glass. This is what gives hefeweizens their fruity (banana?) flavor.

wax eagle
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