DID AMADEUS DRINK EDELWEISS?

Edelweiss Weizenbier stems from Land Salzburg and the land of AMADEUS (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756 - 1791). Although the present day name, Edelweiss, is relatively new, the recipe for Edelweiss dates from 1647. It was found in the archives of Hofbräu Kaltenhausen, a court brewery ten miles south of Salzburg, which was founded in 1475, and has been in continuous operation since its founding.

What then is this Weizenbier that Mozart may have drunk? It's not Lager, not Pils, not Alt, not Stout, but rather a generic style of its own, and one of the fastest growing "new" beers to reach and attract the social beer-drinker, as well as the connoisseurs of beer. A sipping beer, a beer to talk over, a beer to enjoy with friends, a beer with a good meal. Initially a south-German, Bavarian style of beer dating from 1603, Weizenbier has had a renaissance in the past decade, spreading initially throughout Germany, but now throughout the U.S. as well. Not only are numerous imported Weizenbiere available, but many of the emerging domestic microbreweries are beginning to brew a Wheat beer as well. (Berliner Weisse, although also using some wheat in the malt, is a totally different style of wheat beer, and should not be considered within this discussion.)

To explain Weizenbier (Weissbier or Wheat beer), one must be aware that it is a beer brewed with at least 60% wheat in the malt, as opposed to most beers which use 100% barley malt, or a mixture of barley and rice, as well as other combinations of grains. Weizenbier can be found in four versions (clear, opaque, dark and Bock).

In San Luis Obispo the annual Mozart festival takes place every summer, and the thousands of Mozart fans can firstly revel in the sounds of Amadeus, and follow it with a congenial discussion over an authentic Edelweiss from Amadeus country at the "Original SPIKES," the bar-restaurant in San Luis Obispo noted for its excellent selection of beers, or Old Vienna Restaurant, Shell Beach, with its excellent German/Austrian cuisine.

"The Land of Salzburg: Mozart and Edelweiss,"

is well known, be it Papa Mozart, the court musician or his more famous, talented son, Wolfgang Amadeus, with only one question remaining, . . .

DID AMADEUS DRINK EDELWEISS?

For an Authentic Austrian Edelweiss, when in the central coast of California,
* The Original Spikes , 570 Higuera St. in San Luis Obispo (805) 544-7157, and
* Old Vienna Restaurant, 1527 Shell Beach Road, Shell Beach (by Pismo Beach) (805) 773-4521.

(F.Y.I.: Mozart, a passionate beer-drinker, has been documented as being in the Weisse Hase Gasthaus in Augsburg in 1777.)



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