Introducing Templeweizen!

In December several of the team members at Carolina Beer Temple were fortunate enough to visit Gilde to partake in the brewing of our first collaboration with the world-renowned German Brewery.

Gilde Brewery, South End, Charlotte, NC

Willi Wallstab, head brewer of Gilde Brewery here in Charlotte, greeted us and walked us through the brewing process. We discussed the grains and yeast that will be used, and the attributes of the final product that would be brewed that day.

Willi Wallstab, head brewer, Gilde Charlotte

Wheat malt

Of course, we sampled several delightful brews along the way, some straight from the tanks, including a delightful Helles, as well as their award winning Broyhan’s Bock.

Gilde brew straight from the tank

Gilde was established in 1526 in Hannover, Germany. In 2022 they opened their first brewery outside of Germany in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood. They chose Charlotte, not only for its booming craft beer scene, but also because of the connection to Queen Charlotte for whom Charlotte was named. Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was also the Queen of Hannover. That heritage and connection made Charlotte an excellent choice.

Taps at Gilde Brewery, Charlotte

Gilde is probably best known worldwide for their crisp and clean Pilsener, but they brew a wide variety of German-style beers, while also adventuring into popular American styles now that they have landed in Charlotte.

Gilde Pilsener

For our first collaboration they brewed a Dunkelweizen for us - essentially a dark wheat ale, that will come in at 5.3% ABV. Perfect for the winter months, this Dunkelweizen will be medium-bodied with a creamy texture and hints of chocolate on the palette.

We agreed to name this fine brew Dark Templeweizen and anticipate our second private label brew with Gilde to be a Pale Wheat version of this brew… Pale Templeweizen, to be released this spring.

Dark Templeweizen

After we got done brewing, our team member, Benton, felt empowered to see how long he could hold a full Oktoberfest-style mug of beer. We put the over/under at 3 minutes.

Carolina Beer Temple team member, Benton Cook, tries his hand at the mug holding competition.

While some bets may have been wagered, no beer was harmed during the competition.

Join us tomorrow - Friday, January 17th - as we tap our first ever keg of Dark Templeweizen! And if you miss the tapping, no worries - we’ll have this brew available on draft well into February, with cans arriving soon, so you can enjoy this delightful brew at home..

Carolina Beer Temple team, with Willi, at Gilde

Cheers!

Rob Jacik (owner, Carolina Beer Temple)