Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen

Tasty if you like grapefruit, but it's barely beer.

My Rating: 5.0

Brewer: Schöfferhofer

Origin: Frankfurt, Germany

Name: Grapefruit Hefeweizen

Style: hefeweizen

% ABV: 3.2

Color: pinkish orange

Aroma: bright, grapefruit

Flavors: grapefruit, citrusy, bitter

This citrusy brew is not exactly something I would have chosen on my own, but I was offered one by one of my roommates, so I figured it was worth a shot.  If I weren't expecting it to be beer, I would have rated it much higher than a 5, but we'll get to that later.

I did a little snooping on Schöfferhofer and most of what I found was just about this beverage.  In fact, their U.S. website is completely dedicated to the grapefruit beer and nothing else.  Finally I discovered that back in Germany, there is indeed a regular hefeweizen you can purchase, but it doesn't seem to be available in the U.S.  So I am left with the grapefruit hefeweizen.

It has an extremely low ABV of only 3.2% because it's only half beer.  Yes, you read that right: it's only half beer.  50% hefeweizen and 50% carbonated grapefruit juice.  But all this aside, I gave it a fair chance and went into the tasting with an open mind.

The aroma was strongly of grapefruit with very subtle wheaty undertones.  Its color was a vibrant pinkish orange, cloudy from being unfiltered.  The lacing was very minimal from the start.  The first sip was very bright and citrusy.  Grapefruit's characteristic bitterness kept it from being overly sweet.  The beer felt very thin and watery in my mouth and had almost no body whatsoever.  A very subtle malty flavor emerged in the aftertaste, but this was fleeting, like the shadow of a flavor.  I couldn't detect a hint of an alcohol flavor.  The subtle malt flavors were the only thing that tipped me off that I wasn't just drinking sparkling grapefruit juice.

Overall, I enjoyed the flavor since I like grapefruit juice, but as a beer it just can't measure up for me.  It's basically just carbonated juice.  Perhaps I would like to try a blend stronger on the hefeweizen side, say 70-30 or even 80-20.  For now I'll stick with my beers that are 100% beer.