Schneider Aventis

Schneider Aventis is one of the world's unique beers. Misspellings are always fun and this beer is categorized as a weizen doppelbock. A tranny of the beer world, this beer is a combination of a hefe weizen and a double bock. The abv is high and the color is dark like a double bock while the carbonation and aroma are reminiscent of a hefe. The flavor has elements of both styles.

Aventis begins with an aroma of cloves, but not knowing what cloves smell like, I had to deduce this. Hefe weizens are said to smell of cloves and Aventis smells like a hefe. The aroma also has hints of banana. The flavor begins with deep, malty complexity later softened by fruity flavors like fig and banana that culminate in a dry finish. This is truly an oddball beer.

Just to bring up my favorite beer label enablers at Bodymore, Murdaland's Clipper City, I will mention that their 'Hang Ten' is a tribute to Aventis. However, one look at the Aventis label lets you know the bearded man depicted would bash that pirate out of principle.

Clipper City's Heavy Seas "Hang Ten"

Another beer in the 'Heavy Seas' series from Clipper City in Syphilis City, Maryland, is Hang Ten. It's a Weizen Dopplebock and it means my friend the pirate is back. I'm not positive but I think a Weizen Dopplebock is a Double Bock brewed with a portion of wheat in lieu of being an all barley malt ale. This beer is paying tribute to the style made famous by Aventis of Germany.

Hang Ten has a sharply acidic yeast nose with hints of sour lemon. It's coloration is browish red and puts heads to bed with it's 10% a.b.v. One can't tell there is so much alcohol in this beer from taste alone. The body is fairly thin where it should be heartier, ala Loose Cannon. The flavor has a yeasty tang tempered by a hefty malt flavor with hints of fig. A good beer, it pays tribute to Aventis fairly well, but if you want the perfect representation of this style I would recommend Aventis.

Apparently Clipper City is trying to drive me crazy with it's Heavy Seas labels. They have a penchant for pairing good beers with ridiculous labels. The pirate in the Seinfeld shirt from 'Loose Cannon' is back. Once again: he is oblivious to the danger he is in, the bird refuses to fly and I'm left wishing something in the picture would just kill them both already. If the shark would just bite off the pirate's hand, maybe he would stop drawing these labels. Beers of this high caliber demand better labels. This is probably the same pirate who walked into a bar with a steering wheel on his crotch and when the bartender asked him how the steering wheel got there said, "I don't know but it's driving me nuts."