So I’ve tried Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier enough to make it my favorite Hefeweizen. Here’s my review on it for those that would like to watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1r28vysOUw
Here’s the rest of my list:
2.Franziskaner Hefe Weisse
3.Sierra Nevada Hefeweizen
4. Hofbrau Hefe weisse
What are your Top 4 Hefeweizens?
I like your top three in order, but I would put Dry Dock Brewery’s Hefe at the top. I may be a little partial to Dry Dock’s since I live about 7 minutes away, but I do have to say their Hefe is the best I’ve ever tasted. Granted, I’m getting their Hefe very fresh compared to the others so that may be a little unfair. I pick out slightly more banana than clove, but a good balance of the two. Not that it matters too much, but Dry Dock’s Hefe has won a gold in 2011 and two silvers at the 2010 & 2009 GABFs.
For me it’s:
Schneider Weisse
SN Kellerweis
Weihenstephan
Julius Echter
Leaving out mine . . . ;D
In no particular order, Maisel’s, Weihenstephan, Schneider, Franziskaner
A fresh Weihenstephaner is so far ahead for me that I don’t even bother thinking of another three. I guess I like Paulaner and Franziskaner if I can’t find a Weihenstephaner, but I’m not happy substituting. I like Schneider a lot, but it seems kind of dark. It’s a fairly unique beer, an amber hefe.
+1 to all of the above, but Ill add Flying Dog’s to the list. I get it very fresh here as well, so that may be why, but its a great hefe.
The best Hefes I’ve had were fresh Germans. My favorites:
Weihenstephan
Schneider
Paulaner
Ayinger
Yeah, I just tried the In-Heat Wheat this spring for the first time and I’m a big fan.
In Heat Wheat was my favorite domestic wheat until they moved back East. It just doesn’t taste the same now, but it might just be that it doesn’t travel well.
Dry Dock’s Hefe is great, but they have a very small distribution so I doubt you’ll see it outside Denver anytime soon.
Now, I am no expert on Hefeweizens, but here is my list. In no particular order.
Ayinger
Schneider-weisse
Weihenstephan
And, it may not count, because it is a Kristalweizen, but Black Raven’s Sun Thief over here in Redmond got me back into drinking wheat beers, after one too many American “Hefeweizens”.
Great lists guys.
I didn’t realize Flying Dog had a Hefeweizen. I went to there website(http://flyingdogales.com/beers/#/The+Pack/In-Heat+Wheat) and it says it’s available year round. I’m hoping my store has this!
A lot of time the imported German hefeweizen are far from fresh. I believe franziskaner in particular is pasteurized, and one of my least favorite. Schneider is one that is very good when fresh. Erdinger on draft is very good when fresh.
Not mentioned on the list above: Troeggs Dream Weaver HefeWezien is one of the best domestic weissbiers you will find. It rivals some of the best German hefeweizens IMO.
Weihenstephaner is by far my favorite but I also like the next three listed as a good substitute.
Weihenstephan
Schneider
Paulaner
Ayinger
The original recipe was made by Eric Warner of German Wheat Beer fame. I don’t know how they’ve tweaked it over the years, or with the move to MD. Circa 2007 their beer was solid, especially In Heat. That was the last year they brewed in Denver. Last year at my local liquor store I found a couple 4-packs of 2007’s Gonzo Imperial Porter and I bought all of them. They were probably the best commercial beer I’ve ever had.
Wow. You need to try more commercial beers. 
The commercial beer selection in Missouri is really bad outside of St. Louis and KC. Like, really awful. Sam Adams awful.
I’m pretty lucky in that there are plenty of liquor stores with a great craft beer selection around me. My only problem is that the freshness level is dubious at most of them. I’ve pretty much given up on IPA’s from a lot of them. It’s nice to find 3-year old barleywines on the shelf. It’s not so nice to find 3-year old hefe’s or DIPA’s. I happened upon a bottle of Avery Maharaja the other day that I really wanted to grab, but my spidey sense went off and told me it would be a big waste of money. Went home with some gueuze instead.
A 3 year hefe stored too warm. There are a few stores by me with this problem too. The selection in some have been incredible, but the freshness terrible. Most of these places must store their beers at too warm a temp. Nothing worse than buying a hard to find beer and finding out its bad when you go to drink it.
LOL. Sorry, man. That was a smart ass thing for me to say. We were in the same boat here for a long time. Now we get just about everything. That said, I have always travelled a lot so I have had the chance to try many beers.
When I lived in Denver we could get a ton of imported (overseas and from distant states) beers, but the local breweries were so good I usually just got something from one of them. But now that I live in MO and there are a total of three good breweries in the state, I miss that variety.