Mercurius
33 cl bottle
The wheat in the recipe, and the banana that comes out
€5,50
What it is, and what is in it
In weiss beers, the banana aroma is not an additive: it's produced by the yeast during fermentation, and it's a sign that the strain worked as it should have. Here, it's present, along with citrus and spicy notes.
In the recipe, alongside barley malt, there's wheat — that's what gives the beer its persistent head and full mouthfeel. The hops, however, are kept very low: twelve bitterness units, the lowest value in the range, because in this style, bitterness would overpower everything else.
Clear golden color, sparkling taste, bittersweet finish. 4.7% ABV: it drinks quickly, and it's made for that.
- Ingredients
- Water, barley malt, wheat, hops, sugar, yeast.
- Allergens
- Gluten (barley malt, wheat).
What the brewery drinks it with
The pairings declared for this beer.
- Red meat
- Fish and seafood
- Savory pies
- Pizza and spicy dishes
The label’s terms, explained
What a Weiss is
The wheat beer of Bavaria — Weissbier, white beer, or Weizen, wheat beer. Two things define it: a substantial share of wheat alongside the barley malt, and a particular yeast that during fermentation produces aromas of banana and clove. The color is golden and the liquid is hazy, because the yeast stays in suspension.
The wheat
It is not a secondary ingredient: it is what gives the style its name. Wheat carries more protein than barley, and protein is what holds the head up — a weiss makes a tall, dense head that lasts. The same proteins give the haze and the full mouthfeel. It is a grain with gluten, and that is why it appears among the allergens together with barley.
The banana comes from the yeast
The banana smell of a weiss is not a flavoring. It is isoamyl acetate, a molecule the yeast produces during fermentation, the more so the higher the temperature it works at. Along with it the strain produces the phenol that smells of clove. Picking them up means the yeast has worked the way the style asks.
What IBUs are
International Bitterness Units: the laboratory measure of the bittering compounds the hops have given up to the beer. An industrial pale lager sits around 10-20, a pale ale between 30 and 45, a modern IPA often goes past 60. In a weiss the number is deliberately low: the bitterness would cover the banana and the spice, which are the reason this style is drunk.
What it says on the bottle
The mandatory label information, transcribed from the label of the size on sale.
- Ingredients
- Water, barley malt, wheat, hops, sugar, yeast.
- Allergens
- Gluten (barley malt, wheat).
- Contents
- 33 cl bottle
- Place of production
- Produced in San Pierino, Fucecchio (FI)
| Energy | 163 kJ / 39 kcal |
|---|---|
| Fat | 0 g |
| of which saturated fatty acids | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3,1 g |
| of which sugars | 0,5 g |
| Protein | 0,4 g |
| Salt | <0,01 g |
| Alcohol (ethanol) | 3,7 g |
Where and how it is made
Daniele Nespeca, per Birrificio Aries, in Fucecchio.
A two-hectoliter brew · from barley to bottle, all in house
All 76 products by Birrificio Aries- How it is made
- Selection of raw materials, barley milling, mashing, filtration, whirlpool, yeast pitching, primary fermentation in fermenter, secondary fermentation in bottle or keg. All stages on-site: 2 hl brew kettle and two 600 l temperature-controlled stainless steel conical fermenters.
- Other sizes
- 33 cl bottle; 24 l keg.
The brewery’s other beers
Gli elementi
Le speciali
