Maisel’s Weisse Alkoholfrei

Brauerei Gebrüder Maisel are a German brewery founded in 1887 by two brothers, Eberhard and Hans Maisel, in the city of Bayreuth to the east of the country. They built their own brewery facility from scratch on an empty plot of land, and within their first year of operation were already supplying their beers all over Germany. Famous for their wheat beers, they’re now the fourth biggest producer of such beverages in the whole of the country. Still a family-owned company, the head honcho is currently Jeff Maisel, and the brewery still seems to be going strong under his leadership.

Maisel’s Weisse Alkoholfrei was awarded the world’s best alcohol-free wheat beer at the World Beer Awards in both 2018 and 2019, so obviously has some merits to sway the notoriously picky WBA tasters. It’s nicely packaged too, with an attractive elegant label design which harks back to the early twentieth century. Like many other German non-alcoholic wheat beers it’s also marketed somewhat as a post-sports drink, advertising its isotonic properties along with the numerous B vitamins it contains. But as this is a blog about alcohol-free beers, the only thing we’re interested in is how it performs on our palate!

Pouring from the bottle we get a slightly-reddish amber coloured liquid with a fair bit of haze. Certainly a different shade than other AF wheat beers I’ve reviewed. A solid creamy head is produced that could be in danger of engulfing the glass if the beer were poured too aggressively. On the nose we get wheat malt, along with some spicy coriander and slight orange citrus.

On tasting we get sweet wheat malt, with fruity banana coming in, although it seemed to be absent on inhaling. There is also a touch of sourness to it, but the sweetness dominates. Mouthfeel is ok, but bordering on the watery side which is not what I was expecting considering the amazing head on the pour. We get a malty sweet finish to the drink.

This was recommended to me by other alcohol-free wheat beer fans, but I have to say it hasn’t rocked my world. It looks fantastic, has good wheat beer aromas, but flavour-wise it slides downhill. It’s still of decent quality, but does not knock Erdinger or Franziskaner off their top spots in my humble opinion.

Buy Maisel’s Weisse Alkoholfrei

You can buy Maisel’s Weisse Alkoholfrei from stockists such as Ocado, or online from the following drinks retailers:

Nutritional Information (per 100ml, taken from the side of the bottle)
ABV	0.5%
Energy	14 kcal
Fat	0g
Carbohydrates	5.1g
Sugar	0.9g
Protein	0g
Ingredients
Water, Wheat and Barley Malt, Fermented Carbonic Acid, Yeast, Hops