1516 Schloss Weisse

Review Date 4/9/2016 Updated  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Hefeweizen   Brewery: Egerer   Country: Germany   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.15 (B)   ABV: 5%

For Christmas of 2015, my wife bought me a really cool present: BeerAdvent Calendar 2015 from Kalea. In truth, my wife got me a lot of nice presents (she’s the best wife ever), but the nice thing about the Beer Advent Calendar is you get it early. You have to, since it’s comprised of 24 different imported German beers in a box with little doors that you open, one per day from December 1^st through December 24^th. All of the beers are listed on the side of the carton, however, so be careful not to look and spoil the daily surprises!

I love German beer more than beer from any other country on Earth, so this was definitely right up my alley. My one criticism of the calendar is there are no bocks or doppelbocks (not fair!), but otherwise it’s just an amazing way to sample 24 German beers I’ve never seen before. I got mine a Costco here in Georgia and paid $59.95 for the box. That might sound steep, but when you distribute that price over 24 different half liter cans, it only works out to $2.50 per can. Not a bad deal at all looked at that way.

Today is Day 12 of the German Beer Advent Calendar-we're halfway to Christmas! I'll confess that I'm drinking this beer in April of 2016, and while I didn't drink a beer a day in December, I did have a lot of fun opening a door on the calendar each morning and revealing a new and different brew. On Day 12, I spied a can of 1516 Schloss Weisse.

1516 Schloss Weisse is brewed by Privatbrauerei Egerer, and is in fact the third consecutive beer in the calendar brewed there. Now, I know I've tasted Egerer beers before but never catalogued them; the label says this beer is brewed under licence form Privatbrauerei Bach. In fact, I can't find any details of Privatbrauerei Bach anywhere on the web. We all know the famous composer of the same name, though the brewery may not be named for him for sure. 1516 is the year of the Reinheitsgebot; Schloss Weisse means White Castle literally, though here it means castle wheat beer.

Be that as it may, 1516 Schloss Weisse has an alcohol content of 5% by volume.

1516 Schloss Weisse pours to a hazy yellow color with a thick rocky head and a potent nose of bananas foster. Taking a sip, the beer has a refreshing crackery wheat character up front followed by banana, vanilla and a hint of clove. The beer finishes tart wheaty and very refreshing. Swirling the can I rouse a lot of yeast and of course decant into my can and drink it. It's very good for you. I found this to be a very delightful hefeweizen, one I would buy again if I ever can. 

I’m greatly enjoying my Beer Advent Calendar with the day 12 beer. Here’s looking forward to the remaining 12, and another assortment of 24 in 2016. We’ll be on the lookout next year at Costco, and following the beers on their Facebook page.

The beers of the 2015 Beer Advent Calendar: