Have you ever had a Colaweizen?

[Berlbrew]

Last night as I laid in bed, trying to conjure up new ideas for future brews, I remembered my time as a 10th grade exchange student in Germany. I lived near Freiburg in the Black Forest. Now, I was only 16 and far from the beer-obsessed homebrewer that I am today, but I have very fond memories of drinking beer from two local breweries, Rothaus and Ganter. One thing that I just remembered last night was how me and my host family would sit down for dinner each night, and after dessert we would all sit back and enjoy a Colaweizen.

Colaweizen was, in this situation, 70% Ganter Hefeweizen and 30% Pepsi Cola. When I woke up I decided to do some searching to see what I could find about Colaweizen. My search didn't yield much information, mostly just accounts by other Americans drinking the mix and a few German breweries that actually produce bottles of the stuff!

Now I'm tempted to take a shot at some Colaweizen, perhaps bottling it as a mixture or just brewing a German hefeweizen and adding Cola. Have you ever had or made a Colaweizen?

 

[McKBrew]

Wow, another cola beer thread. Must be summertime.

Seriously, if this is your thing, I'd go with adding the cola when you drink. If you try to do it at bottling, there is a good possibllity things will start to ferment again and you'll end up regretting it.

 

[TelemarkBrew]

i spent a summer in freiburg (still have the Ganter glass), but never had that mixture. i saw the shandy/raddler(sp?) mixture more, with part beer part gingerale type soda.
you'd probably be better off mixing at serving time, that way you can have the hefeweizen alone or mixed, rather than having 5g of mixed. plus you could them change up the exact mix to your taste each day.

 

[Whiskey]

A somewhat common mixture, I recall seeing women drinking those primarily. You will want to mix it at serving, the beer seems to break down the soda and it will seperate. You will get a brown sludge on the bottom if you let it sit for too long.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If it whets your whistle go fer it. Mix it in the glass for certain. I do like a Radler but, I think I'd rather get a "cola-noscopy" than.......

Oh nevermind that doesn't look right either.

 

[IrregularPulse]

SWMBO went to Germany in Highschool and told me it was very common for the youth to mix sprite and occasionally cola with the darker heavier beers.

 

[Berlbrew]

Yea, I never had it pre-mixed from the bottle while I was in Freiburg, I only ever added it while pouring. I didn't even know they bottled the mixture until I did a google search for Colaweizen. I'm sure I will do it for nostalgia's sake, but beer is excellent on its own.

 

[Mirilis]

I must be living in a shell because I have never heard of mixing the two.. now that I think of it I dont know if i want to try.... *goes back into shell

 

[skadalajara]

Remember, these are the same folks who serve Coke at ~50F with a lemon wedge and eat french fries with a fork and mayo or mustard.
I vaguely remember the beer/Sprite mix from the month I spent there. I can't remember if that's what they call a Spezi or Spetzl.
If you can help it, avoid getting old. You'll forget all the good stuff from when you were younger.

 

[Tonedef131]

Remember, these are the same folks who eat french fries with a fork and mayo or mustard.

Better than dipping them in ketchup. If you are over 8 years old and put ketchup on your fries you suck at eating.

As for this "Colaweizen" concept, I would rather choke down sulphuric acid than that sweet mess. uhh

 

[Zenman]

hey fries and mayo are awesome, personally like war style as well (ketchup and mayo). Especially love getting frites at various places around Amsterdam. They can keep the hot coke though, going to Europe i figured out quick, just order beer because they don't know what ice is and hot coke sucks @ 2 euro 50 for 6 oz when beer is 1 euro.

As for cola weizen I actually have seen that stateside, my friends german mother did it, always looked gross to me, she also added various fruit juices to her hefe, said it was common when she was growing up in the late 40s/50s before she came to the states.

 

[TexLaw]

I remember colaweizen fondly, and I remember a few old guys hanging around and drinking it, too. It reminded me of Dr. Pepper. I did prefer just straight-up beer, though.

Definitely mix it in the glass. I don't know that you want to rebottle Pepsi, in the first place, but I am more concerned about what happens with sugar and yeast get together.


TL

 

[ArizonaDB]

I had a similar drink is Spain called a "Clara". It was a light beer mixed with a splash or two of lemon-lime soda (Schwepps I believe). I really liked it at the time, but then again I was only 17. I could see how it would be pretty refreshing on a hot day, though. Maybe I'll revisit it this summer. I'm thinking the wife would definitely like it.

 

[Chupacabras]

A fork is the only way to eat fries you barbarian! Seriously though, I've got a brand spanking new batch of hefeweizen ready and I am going to try it.

 

[Blindguardian]

Ahhhh colaweizen...... now that drink was one of my favorite types of beer when i was growing up in germany. To bad I can not even find anything close to that over here in the US.

 

[EoinMag]

Remember, these are the same folks who serve Coke at ~50F with a lemon wedge and eat french fries with a fork and mayo or mustard.
I vaguely remember the beer/Sprite mix from the month I spent there. I can't remember if that's what they call a Spezi or Spetzl.
If you can help it, avoid getting old. You'll forget all the good stuff from when you were younger.

Spezi is a mix of coke and fanta 50:50, also known in some regions as a diesel, although that is also used as the name for a "dirty" beer (ein schmutziges) which is coke and pils, again regional variations on the name.

Fries with ketchup and mayo is a "pommes rot-weiss" which is a red and white fries.

We used to drink hefeweizen with a splash of banana pulp up North on a summers day, but then the North is the civilised part

 

[Whiskey]

Spezi is a mix of coke and fanta 50:50, also known in some regions as a diesel, although that is also used as the name for a "dirty" beer (ein schmutziges) which is coke and pils, again regional variations on the name.

Fries with ketchup and mayo is a "pommes rot-weiss" which is a red and white fries.

We used to drink hefeweizen with a splash of banana pulp up North on a summers day, but then the North is the civilised part

Yeah I remember seeing Hefe with Banana juice also.

 

[luvmy40]

Habe henchen und Pomme fritz mit curry bitte.

The best meal ever purchased from a street vendor anywhere!

Cola Weizen was a favorite desert for me when I was stationed in Pfullendorf.
I've never seen it in a bottle, though it has been better than 20 years since I was in Deutchland.

 

[QueenCityALER]

Well I've never spent summers in Germany, but I keep the soda pop the hell away from my homebrew. The thought never crossed my mind to pollute my homebrew with a sugary Coke. Just an opinion.

 

[BobOscarBob]

Disregard the old and ancient brew gods of America ( source of all beer right?) that hint at blasphemy when mixing bier und ? Enjoy your Radler und Kolaweizen und Geiss (1/2 L dunkel, 1/2 L kola, 2 shots of Asbach Uralt - try not to snort the foam - I dare ya!)

And Spaetzle (not Spezi - my oldest boys' fave in their youth) is one of the best side dishes to ever adorn a Rahm or Jaeger Schnitzel...ooooooh. why'd they ever have to bring the wall down...

I've seen way too many noses turned up at the mention of the Deutsche bier concoctions only to turn to smiles when they taste them...

 

[khiddy]

+1 on Radler. Sparkling lemondade and lager FTW!

 

[Berlbrew]

As I recall, I was reluctant to try it but truth be told, Colaweizen is delicious. Don't knock it till you try it.

 

[SmugMug]

Mmmmm....colaweizen and poutine.