Hefeweizen is one of those slightly cursed styles that seems to be forever relegated to the margins of craft beer, and I get why. As an intrinsically different drop, the more a brewer embraces what makes them special, the further the beer will land outside the mass-market’s tastes. But reign it in too far and the beer ends up insipid and boring. The result is a meanly small target, and it’s a testament to so many of our brewers’ love for the style that they routinely hit it anyway, and Banana Man from Beers (Christchurch) is one of them.
Banana certainly makes an appearance in the aroma, along with rising bread dough and a hint of blueberry and bubblegum. The palate strikes entirely different, smooth at first but quickly moves into dry, pithy citrus, tangy spent mash and a jazzy yeast funk that lingers long into the finish. Refreshing, satisfying, and much weightier than its moderate 5.6% ABV strength would imply.
