Weihenstephaner Brewery
Weihenstephaner Vitus Beer is brewed by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Bavarian State Brewery of Weihenstephan), a German brewery owned by the Free State of Bavaria located on the site of the former monastery Weihenstephan Abbey in Freising, Bavaria. The brewery claims to be the oldest brewery in the world, but this has not been verified by other sources. There are a variety of documents that date the brewery possibly going back to 1040. The brewery brews a variety of beers and features several wheat beers, including Vitus.
Weihenstephaner Vitus
Weihenstephaner describes Vitus as “Weizenbock Vitus – a strong wheat bock…Cloves are readily perceptible in the flavor, with a hint of banana. Full-bodied and effervescent, the fine bubbles of carbon dioxide create a foaming sensation in the mouth. Vitus doesn’t taste like a conventional strong beer, but rather more like a premium, fruity wheat beer…Saturated with fine yeast and topped with a creamy head of foam, Vitus, our pale wheat bock has a fruity profile, resplendent with aromas of dried apricots and citrus fruits.” The bottle we have says “Strong Wheat Beer” on the front label although pictures online do not show this tagline on the label.
Weihenstephaner Vitus has a 7.7% ABV, 4.1g protein, 16.8 carbs, 0.1g fat, 17 IBU and 260 calories (11.2 oz. bottle). It has a “World Class” rating on Beer Advocate. This is the highest rating we have seen of all the beers we have reviewed.
Our Review of Weihenstephaner Vitus
A friend of mine who does not like wheat beers offered me a couple bottles of Vitus he had. I generally like wheat beers like Hefeweizen so how could I turn down these free beers? But I did not expect a wheat beer like this. The 7.7% ABV was the first thing that told me this was not a regular wheat beer. It is a very good beer and it may deserve the “World Class” rating it has at Beer Advocate. I gave it a “4 beers” rating rather than 5 because the times I would choose this beer to drink are limited.
Vitus is much too heavy and high in alcohol and calories to casually pop one open and drink by itself. Much like North Coast PranQster Belgian Ale, it goes best with food. I had Vitus with a sausage pizza (again same as PranQster) which paired well. I also suggest a burger, steak, ribs or other heavier foods.
For another excellent but lighter German beer recommendation, try Franziskaner Weissbier.
For beer nutritional information of all beers we have reviewed see Beer Nutritional Information.
