The Hefe-Weizen Story
Paulaner Hefe-Weizen is the company's flagship style and brings the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of Munich's beer gardens to America. It is a classic Bavarian wheat beer. "Hefe" in German translates to yeast and "Weizen" (pronounced Vi-Zen) translates to wheat. Yeast retained in the beer is responsible for the cloudy appearance of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen. A centrifuge process is used with traditional wheat beers to retain the yeast instead of the typical filtering process used with beers that are clear in appearance. Paulaner Hefe-Weizen contains 60% malted wheat and 40% malted barley.
Wheat beer was originated in the German state of Bavaria in the 15th century. In Bavaria today wheat beers represent almost 20% of the beer category and Paulaner is one of the fastest growing at an average rate of nearly 10% per year since 1995.* While the wheat beer segment in the U.S. is much smaller, the style is gaining more attention. The reason why isn't too hard to figure out – wheat beers offer an extremely refreshing taste. Paulaner Hefe-Weizen is refreshment made for relaxing with friends any time of the year.
Original Munich
In Germany, there are provinces or states like we have in the U.S. Munich is the capital city of the province of Bavaria, which is sometimes called "The Cradle of the Art of Brewing." It's a place where beer is an art form to some and a religion to the rest.
Currently, there are just over 1,200 breweries in Germany, 800 in Bavaria alone – more than any other country in the world. So to say Germans know beer is an understatement. Munich is the home of the Paulaner Brewery, which exists on the site of the original brewery founded by the Paulaner monks in 1627. Today the brewery is the largest in Munich and Bavaria and still one of the most revered.
Oktoberfest-Marzen
For his wedding in 1810, Ludwig I, the Crown Prince of Bavaria, commissioned all of the Munich breweries to develop a new style of beer to commemorate the occasion. The beer was so good that the party lasted for days and Oktoberfest beer was born.
Subsequent anniversaries of this wedding celebration evolved into Oktoberfest, Munich's world-famous event, which is attended by over 6 million people each year, who consume 6 million liters of beer. By Munich law, only the six Munich breweries are allowed to serve their beer at Munich's Oktoberfest celebration. Paulaner is one of the six, as is its sister brand, Hacker-Pschorr. Paulaner's Oktoberfest brew is the most popular at the yearly event.
Paulaner Oktoberfest-Märzen was originally a seasonal brew, however, is now brewed and enjoyed all year long.
Premium Pils
In Bavaria, where the pilsner or "Pils" style was nurtured, brewmasters hold pilsners in very high esteem and almost universally prefer it to any other style of beer. These true pilsner beers are long lagered and heavily hopped, resulting in a light, crisp beer with a dry, bitter finish.
Paulaner's Premium Pils is brewed with two types of hops – bitter substance and aroma. The bitter substance are always added first in the brewing process so they are fully absorbed with the aroma hops added towards the end to maintain aroma in the beer. Paulaner's Premium Pils uses Hallertau Magnum as its bitter hop and aroma hops – Hallertau Tradition and Hallertau Spalter Select. Hallertau is a hops growing region in Bavaria.
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