Miltenberger Helles Hefe Weizen
The Miltenberger Brewery, founded in 1654, in the northwestern part of
Bavaria is one of the region’s finest. It is tucked away in the romantic
town of Miltenberg, amidst ancient half-timbered houses, some dating back to the mid-12th century. One of them, Guesthouse Zum Riesen (“At the Giant’s”) is Germany’s oldest inn … with a restaurant run by the brewery. Throughout the ages, Zum Riesen has been a favorite among nobles and commoners alike. Its guests have included two German emperors, Barbarossa (1112 - 1190) and Karl IV (1316 - 1378), and none other than “The King” himself, Elvis Presley.
The brewery was started shortly after the turmoil of the Thirty Years War (1616 - 1648), when all of Europe was ravaged by incessant warfare between the Catholic and Protestant powers of the time. As is often the case in the wake of calamities, thousands of folks became uprooted and had to flee their homes. One such refugee was a cervois (a brewer) from Liège, Belgium, named Kilian François Mathieu Servantaine, who somehow ended up in Miltenberg.
Once settled in his new home, Servantaine had his name “Germanized” to Kalian Franzmathes and promptly, on November 6, 1654, he opened up a tavern which he called Zum Weissen Löwen (“To the White Lion”), the beginning of the Miltenberger Brewery.
Miltenberger is now a full-fledged modern craft brewery making a complete line of premium Bavarian-style brews — from Helles, to Bockbier, to Hefe-Weizen, to Pils, to Festbier.
The Miltenberger Helles Hefe-Weizen is a yeast-turbid, 5.1% alc./vol. Classic Bavarian Weissbier of spritzy and refreshing clove-and-banana spiciness, one of the best of this style anywhere.