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Craft Beer & Brewing
Brewing Bavarian-Style Weissbier with Bluejacket's Ro Guenzel

Craft Beer & Brewing Course

Brewing Bavarian-Style Weissbier with Bluejacket's Ro Guenzel

Ro Guenzel, head brewer of Bluejacket in Washington, DC, has a special love for authentic, Bavarian-style weissbier. In this video course, he tackles the history of the style, traditional brewing methods, food pairings, and much more.

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Bluejacket in Washington, DC, produces a wide range of technically excellent beers in a variety of styles, but head brewer Ro Guenzel—who formerly brewed at the Kaltenberg Castle brewery in Vail, Colorado—has a special fondness for Bavarian styles—especially Weissbier.  

Weissbier is one of the great classic styles, but brewing one the Bavarian way requires overcoming some specific technical hurdles. In this 45-minute video course, Guenzel tells the story of Weissbier and explains the steps necessary to brew a great one.  

Among other topics, he discusses:  

  •  a short history of Bavarian Weissbier  
  • mashing and lautering with wheat  
  • the multi-step mash and decoction  
  • stressing the yeast and open fermentation  
  • speise and bottle-conditioning  
  • pairing food with Weissbier


And much more, including recipes and the tale of a dog named Schneider.  

Course contents

4 chapters, 15 lessons, 46m of video

Chapter 1

Welcome

  • Welcome... and, Why Weissbier?7:20
  • Weissbier, According to the Oxford Companion to Beer

Chapter 2

The Origins of Weissbier

  • A Short History of Weissbier7:58
  • About Luitpold, Prince of Bavaria
  • About the Wittelsbacher Family
  • What is Bavarian-Style Weissbier?4:12
  • John Mallett on Brewing with Wheat

Chapter 3

Brewing Weissbier

  • Brewing Weissbier the Bluejacket Way16:32
  • Phil Markowski on Brewing Hefeweizen
  • Traditional Hefeweizen: Worth the Trouble?
  • Packaging, Pairing & the Pooch8:34
  • Be a Hefe Jefe: More Weissbier Tips

Chapter 4

Thank You

  • Pouring & Prost0:58
  • Recipe: Bluejacket Pattern Skies Weissbier
  • Recipe: Weihenstephan-Style Hefeweissbier

What students say

5.0 from 3 reviews
  • Gives an excellent discussion of the process of making a proper Weissbier. How-To's that you can use the next time you brew.
    Victor Aume
  • I subscribed just for this course! Great historical overview, informational and full of tips and knowledge for brewing a quality Weissbier. Now I look forward to learning more from your other courses. Thank you!
    Sami Anderson
  • Very instructive for understanding that particular beer style in every way and beautifully presented.
    Tomo Jedvaj