Have you ever been down to that final $3 in the wallet or bank account and wondered what the hell you were going to do?
I know it’s a foreign concept to many Cal Poly students. Most of us are privileged enough to have parents provide rent and extra spending money so that we can get the true “college experience” (i.e. boozing heavily and scoping the downtown scene for the next lovely lady).
But there are also a lot of us out here who work part or full time while going to school full time just to get by.
The $3 in your pocket means a lot to you, whether it’s your last $3 or just what happens to be in your wallet.
Just because that’s all the money you have doesn’t, mean you can’t enjoy the finer things in life.
So I propose the next time you’re strapped for cash, don’t spend it on 12 packets of top ramen (30 packets if it’s on sale … not that I’ve ever bought that … ), buy yourself a Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse.
Franziskaner is available at most of the major supermarkets in town and at BevMo for less than $3. I usually buy them at the Vons on Tank Farm Road after a long night at work.
There’s no better reward after a long day of school and work than a nice Von’s deli leftover entrée and a Franziskaner.
Ok, so maybe there are better things than the deli leftovers, but give me a break, they’re like three bucks at 11 p.m., what do you want from me?
This particular hefeweizen seems to be of the Bavarian style, which is to say it has a strong scent and flavor of cloves and bananas.
Franziskaner is brewed in Germany, in which Bavaria is a state, so the fact that the beer is Bavarian in style isn’t all that shocking. But it does have a little bit more flavor (and less of a limp) than the usual Bavarian suspects.
Now Kaiser Soze on the other hand… oh wait, he was Turkish right?
Sorry, hopefully you’ve all seen The Usual Suspects or that joke was a waste of five seconds of your life.
If you compare Franziskaner to more popular Bavarians, you’ll be able to tell the difference.
Trader Joe’s sells a decent Bavarian Hef, but it tastes stale compared to Franziskaner. However, it is a good alternative and cheap in its own right at less than $6 for a six pack.
I also recently tried Einhorn Beer Company’s Bavarian-inspired Weizenbock titled Der Kommissar.
This was another beauty that costs less than $4 for 22 ounces of beer at a whopping 7.9 percent ABV.
While I don’t think Der Kommissar quite matches up with the Franziskaner in the taste category, I was very impressed with the effort from a local brewery that doesn’t get much credit these days.
Der Kommissar had a lighter aroma of cloves and bananas, and a little less zing in the taste department, but it was very balanced and smooth.
And let me tell you, it packs a punch. At 7.9 percent, be ready to take a seat for a while after you finish that one or else you’re going to look pretty uncoordinated and stupid on the dance floor at Mother’s.
Ok, so we all look a little bit stupid on the dance floor there, but you get the gist.
I don’t know who put the frugal sense into all these Bavarian beer makers, but it’s a blessing. Maybe everyone in Bavaria is poor and so they kept their beer reasonably priced.
All I know is that if you’re looking for a little bang for your buck, try to find a Bavarian-inspired brew and you’ll get what you’re looking for.