Schneider Aventinus
Named after Johannes Aventinus, a great Bavarian historian best known for his written contributions to early German history, this is a strong, dark wheat doppelbock (or weizenbock) from Schneider & Sohn.
The folks over at G. Schneider & Sohn know wheat beer, and they know it well. In fact its the only type of beer they make, and they've been doing it since Georg Schneider acquired Bavaria's oldest wheat brewery in 1872.
In 1905, Mathilde Schneider took over the brewery following the untimely death of her husband Georg Schneider III, making her the only woman to run the business in its 135+ years. [Read More: Schneider Dynasty]
It was in 1907, under Mathilde's reign, that the brewery's first strong dark wheat was released: Aventinus. This top-fermenting beer showcases rich crystal and dark malts, Hallertau hops, secondary bottle fermentation, and was the first of its style- the Schneider response to the growing popularity of lager doppelbocks like Salvator.
Unlike bottom-fermenting doppelbocks, however, Aventinus uses a strain of yeast specific to wheat beers that results in the presence of phenols and esters- classes of chemical compounds that give off the strong aromatic presence of spice (clove) and fruit (banana). The resulting brew has a sweet and malty, rich, chocolaty medium body, captivating aroma, and a dense, creamy head.
Boring Beer?
All beer produced in Germany is brewed under the Bavarian Purity Law, or Reinheitsgebot, recognized as the "earliest piece of legislation regulating food quality." Since 1516 the laws have prohibited German brewers from using anything other than the four basic ingredients in their brews, allowing no room for experimentation.
In the July '08 issue of All About Beer, writer Sylvia Kopp visits Germany to investigate the impact of this legislation on local brewers and beer drinkers alike. Georg Schneider VI, current owner of Schneider & Sohn brewery, speaks out in an interview regarding the German brewer's dilemma. "The German beer market is deadly boring," he tells Kopp. He continues to explain that the legislation not only limits the brewer's ability to invent something new, but also has created a consumer base that is more or less uninterested in anything outside of the norm.
He points to the example of the Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, a hoppy weizenbock and collaborative effort with Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver. Released in June 2008, only 200 cases were sold in Germany with the remaining shipped to the United States. Americans responded quite well to the beer (yours truly included), while the bulk of German drinkers remained relatively unimpressed (with perhaps a few connoisseurs giving the nod), most of them looking forward to their usual wheat.
Experience
I first spotted Aventius on the shelf of a local store with a tag beneath it touting its '99/100' rating on ratebeer. Ratebeer.com is hardly the be-all end-all of ratings, in fact it is little more than a compilation of peoples' reviews- anyone can post one. Still... a 99?
I picked up a bottle, skeptical to say the least, and thought this better be some damn good beer. I'm a realist and a semanticist, I hold little sacred, and accept few things as true; I was simply not ready to accept a divine beer. A part of me thinks I may have picked up the Aventinus because I wanted to debunk the inflated, over-generous rating. My wife and I are huge wheat beer fans. Something about the light, refreshing body of a wheat makes it our primo beverage on a summer day - we should have realized we were going into this with a positive bias.
Even after all the fuss, my stubborn, unapologetic, preconceived notions were no match for the delicious brew inside that bottle. Aventinus pours dark, mostly opaque, with a bright off-white creamy, thick head. The first thing to hit you is the aroma- powerful, sweet, delicious, often spicy. We have had bottles with an incredible amount of strong clove aroma and flavor, right up-front. The majority are only moderately spicy, my biggest take away from the nose is an inviting warmth like banana bread. The flavors are aplenty, all with a backdrop complimentary to the aroma. What comes through on the palate is a surprisingly light, smooth texture, and tons of dark malt. Any bitterness is minor, and high alcohol is completely mellowed by a rich, chocolaty, sweet, malty exterior.
Final Thoughts
In Aventinus, flavors run deep; but the overall picture remains almost cunningly understated, making this beer all the more drinkable. For our first experience we were pleasantly surprised by the light body, despite the beer's exceptionally dark chocolate color.
This is a must-have for any wheat beer fan, and an easy experimental beverage for anyone looking to try something new. Even if you don't love it, there's very little to turn your nose at with this brew- it's relatively inoffensive. I could drink this any day of the week as a before or after-dinner drink. Reinheitsgebot or not, don't let Mr. Schneider's lack of enthusiasm behind the German beer market deter you from enjoying this time-tested traditional wheat doppelbock. Okay, okay, so we loved the beer. But a 99? That's pushing it...
Germany - 8.2% ABV
G. Schneider & Sohn [website]
Wheat Doppelbock (Weizenbock)
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Reader Comments (5)
You are damn passionate about your beer, dude.
Isn't the 99, the 99th percentile and not 99/100?
On the ratebeer website its marked as percentile, so I assume the shelf tag would be the same?
[...] in the Aventinus post when we discussed how the Reinheitsgebot legislature limits ingredients allowed for use in German [...]
i am looking for a ceramic beer mug with the aventinus logo or name on it. Can anyone help me to find that?
I've only seen the glasses that Schneider makes or endorses for their beers, pictured http://vipn.vipowernet.net/Calculus/eurobeers/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here.