May Beer Dinner = Wheat Beers

There are many different styles of wheat beers and wheat beer was very popular in the U.S. before “the great experiment” of prohibition.  I recall sampling American Hefeweizens while I lived in the Pacific NW and these were; and still are, a very popular summertime beverage.  The primary wheat styles that I have tried are Hefeweizen and Belgian Wit.  A classic Hefeweizen has hints of clove and banana due to the yeast and a Belgian Wit usually contains spices (coriander) and fruit (curacao orange rind) that coupled with the Belgian yeast, provide a distinct taste.

Tibor and Nicole prepared excellent food selections of watermelon and deviled eggs for appetizers and dinner of brats steamed in beer, corn on the cob, asparagus, and pretzel rolls.  Dennis brought over a turtle cake and I brought over baked beans.  Everything was very tasty and it was an excellent meal with friends.  The brats were Johnsonville brats and the steeping in Twisted Pine’s Ghost Face Killah (a chili beer) transformed them to another level.  Tibor also grilled some buffalo jalapeno cheddar brats from Continental Sausage located here in Denver and they were fantastic. The pretzel rolls were a recent addition to the Costco lineup and these were very tasty.  Again, everything served was very good.

The beer lineup is as follows:

1)     Horton’s Homebrew – After Midnight Porter (not a wheat beer - covered in a previous  post)

2)     Twisted Pine – Ghost Face Killah (not a wheat beer – a chili beer)

3)     Odell – Easy Street Wheat

4)     Dry Dock – Hefeweizen (a favorite and a previous medal winner)

5)     Tommyknocker – Jack Whacker (fermented with lemongrass)

6)     Sam Adams – Cherry Wheat

7)     Shock Top – Pumpkin Wheat

8)     Shock Top – Lemon Shandy

9)     Shock Top – Belgian White

10)   Avery – White Rascal

11)  Widmer Brothers – Hefeweizen

12)  Boulder Beer – Sweaty Betty

Probably needless to say, but we did not drink full pours of these beers as we wanted to be able to do things the next day.  The other helpful factor is these wheat beers are typically lower in ABV than many other beer styles.  The take away is there are a number of really good wheat beers.  None of these were bad and there were a wide variety of flavors – everyone had ones they liked.  On a side conversation with Tibor, we agreed that the Dry Dock Hefeweizen was our favorite – it is just a fantastic beer and brewed to style perfection.  I can understand why they have won awards for this beer. 

Next month we focus on Amber Ales.

Kona – Wailua Wheat Ale

Kona Brewing Co.’s Wailua Wheat Ale (5.4% ABV and 15 IBU) is a wheat beer that uses passion fruit during the brewing process.  Wailua pours crystal clear (has to be filtered) with great carbonation.  It has a nice bouquet and one can easily smell the fruit from the use of the passion fruit addition.  Wailua is very easy to drink and has a distinct taste of a wheat beer with a finish of the passion fruit.  I usually do not like fruit / vegetable beers, but this one is not bad.  The name of this beer is inspired by Wailua falls in Maui and I visited the falls a number of years ago.  It is a beautiful site and one can never forget driving the road to Hana.

Website description of Wailua Wheat Ale -  “Swimming in a fresh water pool at the base of a cascading waterfall is what we all imagine we would find in paradise. On Maui, follow the old Hana Highway and you will find such a place – Wailua Falls. This plunging cascade of clear water is the inspiration for our Limited Release Wailua Wheat Ale. This golden, sun colored ale has a bright, citrus flavor that comes from the tropical passion fruit we brew into each batch. Sit back, relax and enjoy paradise anytime.”

Suggested Food Pairing – “It typically pairs well with lighter fare like grilled fish and shrimp, roasted chicken, salads and Asian foods. Perhaps even a dish of vanilla ice cream.”

Boulevard Brewing Co.

I have been on vacation and needed to catch up with a few entries into the blog.  Recently, I tried three from Boulevard Brewing Co., based in Kansas City, MO.  The three I tried were Unfiltered Wheat beer (4.4% ABV and 14 IBU), Bully Porter (5.4% ABV and 49 IBU), and Single-Wide IPA (5.7% ABV and 57 IBU).  These were all good and I really enjoyed the Bully! Porter.  I was in the mood for a porter and it went well with strawberry shortcake, vanilla ice cream and a little chocolate syrup.  Boulevard does a great job with the descriptions of their beers and they provide the ingredients, recommended pairings, awards, the “stats” on beer, and a Sensory Profile that is very accurate.  Below are pictures are from me; as well as, the descriptions and sensory profiles from the Boulevard web site.

Description - Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer is a lively, refreshing ale with a natural citrusy flavor and distinctive cloudy appearance. This easy drinking American-style wheat beer has become our most popular offering, and the best-selling craft beer in the Midwest.  

Sensory Profile - A slightly cloudy, light-bodied, straw colored beer with a sweet, bready malt flavor, low hop bitterness and a hint of citrus.

Description - Bully! Porter - A dark colored, medium-bodied beer with a prominent burnt, roasted malt aroma and flavor and an equally prominent hop aroma, flavor and bitterness.   The intense flavors of dark-roasted malt in Boulevard’s rendition of the classic English porter are perfectly balanced by a generous and complex hop character.

Sensory Profile - Bully! Porter’s robust nature makes it the ideal companion to a variety of foods, from seafood to chocolate.

Description - Boulevard Single-Wide I.P.A. is our take on a style that originated in 18th century Great Britain. This American version—inspired by our Smokestack Series Double-Wide I.P.A.—boasts a heady combination of six varieties of hops, some of which were employed for dry-hopping.

Sensory Profile - A golden colored beer with a prominent flowery, grapefruit hop aroma, a moderate caramel malt flavor and a dominant hop bitterness and flavor.

3 From Big Sky Brewing

Big Sky Brewing is based in Missoula, MT and offers a variety pack of 4 selections (3 each).  The one I purchased had Moose Drool (5.3% ABV), Trout Slayer (4.7% ABV), Big Sky IPA (6.2% ABV and 65 IBU), and Heavy Horse (6.7% ABV and 20 IBU).  On Friday, I sampled Montana Trout Slayer (Filtered Wheat Beer) and paired it with roasted chicken thighs, corn on the cob and green beans.  Trout Slayer pours straw-colored with a two-finger head.  Trout Slayer went very well this dinner and is an easy drinking ale. 

On Saturday, I switched to red meat and enjoyed a steak, corn on the cob and some sautéed Vidalia onions and mushrooms.  I enjoyed dinner with Heavy Horse (Scotch Ale) that pours garnet with a two-finger head that quickly resides.  Heavy Horse is a classic Scotch Ale that is malt-forward with little bitterness.  This is a very nice Scotch Ale and a real treat. 

Finally, on Sunday, I pulled out the spit and grilled a cheese and bacon stuffed chicken breast accompanied with a salad and sautéed carrots.  This dinner was paired with Big Sky IPA.  Big Sky pours orangey gold with a large head – I had to let it recede before emptying the bottle.  This is a really good IPA and I thought the hop bitterness was just right with the malt sweetness.  Big Sky IPA went very well with dinner – highlighted the blue cheese in the salad, the bacon in the chicken and the sweetness of the carrots.  If you have the opportunity to pick up something from Big Sky, I recommend it – the product is good and you get to sample 4 varieties if you select the variety pack.  Big Sky distributes to the Western states and as far east as Michigan and Illinois and then west of the Mississippi.

Oskar Blues - Mama's Little Pils and Odell - Easy Street Wheat

Had the opportunity to sample two new Colorado beers yesterday and both have won awards in their respective styles. Oskar Blues – Mama’s Little Yella Pils is a Pilsner with an ABV of 5.3% and an IBU of 35.  This was consumed from the can and this is a nice, drinkable Pilsner.  I thought it had a good balance and would be a very good summertime beer.  Oskar Blues describes Mama’s Little Yella Pils as “…an uncompromising, small-batch version of the beer that made Pilsen, Czech Republic famous. Unlike mass market “pilsners” diluted with corn & rice, Mama’s is built with 100% pale malt, German specialty malts, and Bavarian hops. “  I have enjoyed each of Oskar Blues products that I have tried and Gubna is still the best from Oskar Blues in my opinion.

After Martial Arts practice, I poured an Easy Street Wheat Ale from Odell at an ABV of 4.6% with and IBU of 15.  This is a nice light beer that goes down very easy.  Winter is essentially the time for stronger and darker beers, but this was a great beer to have after a couple hours of exercise.  I like the wheat beer and I would like to do a comparison between Easy Street and White Rascal from Avery.  Odell describes Easy Street as, “Light and refreshing, Easy Street Wheat is an unfiltered American-style wheat beer. Leaving in the yeast gives the beer a nice, smooth finish and a slightly citrusy flavor. Easy Street Wheat gets its name by brewers “taking it easy” and not filtering the beer. However, for ultimate enjoyment, we encourage you to work just a little harder in pouring it: pour 2/3 of the beer into a glass, swirl what’s left to stir up the yeast, then pour the rest and enjoy.”  I appreciated the pouring suggestion on the bottle.  However, there was still some yeast in the bottom of the bottle after following the instructions and this may have had some impact on the taste.  My wife enjoyed this and Odell is another good Colorado brewer.