     Crack'd Wheat (New Glarus Brewing Company)
Crack'd Wheat has a ton of great reviews/ratings online and comes highly recommended by quite a few beer lovers in Wisconsin. This will be only my third venture into the world of New Glarus beers, but the other two were nothing but enjoyable so I am quite excited. From the New Glarus site: "You hold the international marriage of a sophisticated Bavarian Hefeweiss and an assertive American Pale Ale. Amarillo dry hopping drives Wisconsin Red Wheat. Traditional open top fermentation cultivates our proprietary Bavarian Weiss yeast in our own Wheat Beer Cellars. Absolutely 100% natural bottle conditioned. This is a living beer." Crack'd Wheat pours almost milky at first before settling into a hazy gold/straw color with a big frothy head that leaves plenty of lacing. The appearance of this beer almost looks as though its frozen as the yeast is suspended so well. The aroma is a mix of the usual hefeweizen suspects (bubblegum, cloves and bananas) and lemon along with some sweet orange. It reminds me of summer, oh wait it still is summer. A big sip and we are off. Plenty of spice going on, clove along with nutmeg and cinnamon. There is also a nice dose of the citrusy hop flavor from the Amarillo dry hopping. It gives this beer a nice finish. There is a very pronounced pear flavor to this beer that is quite nice as well. Nicely balanced and very flavorful and refreshing. Crack'd Wheat is an outstanding hybrid of a Hefeweizen and an APA (American Pale Ale). Its got the nice easy drinking quality of the wheat beer along with a good dose of dry hopping with Pacific Northwest hops that make it that much more enjoyable and thirst quenching. Definitely a winner and one to try and get your hands on if you can.
Posted by Russ Labels: Wheat Beers, German-style Beers, Hefeweizens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
   Sunrise Weissbier (Victory Brewing Company)
My first time trying this wheat beer from Victory. Seems like a sensible beer for summer in the Northeast. From the Victory website: "As invigorating as the morning rays of the summer sun, Sunrise Weissbier satisfies when the heat is on, too. This unfiltered, Bavarian style ale is true to its origins with all ingredients except for the water having been imported from Germany. It remains unfiltered to feature the tangy, fruity flavors of its unique yeast. The imported German malt contributes greatly to add a crisp, citric snap that makes this beer a superb summertime refresher." Pours a clean, clear light gold/straw color with a good inch plus of fluffy white head. The aroma of this is quite strong and spicy! Lots of clove, cinnamon, bubblegum etc. All the spicy, yeasty notes you'd expect from a great hefeweizen! Taste is a big mouthful of warm spices, like a pumpkin pie almost but without the pumpkin. Its a little intense I must say. I like my hefeweizens maybe a tad less spicy. That being said, this one is full of flavor. The finish is quite dry and sharp, almost metallic. This is a pretty damn good American wheat beer I must say. This is the type of beer that gets lost in the sea of Imperial IPAs and Russian Imperial Stouts. The lowly hefeweizen simply doesn't pack enough heat. This is however a great choice for a warm summer day.
Posted by Russ Labels: German-style Beers, Wheat Beers, Hefeweizens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    Original Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen (Brauerei G. Schneider & Sohn)
Georg I. Schneider created the original Schneider Weisse recipe back in 1872. Little did he know that the beer he brewed would one day be the benchmark for the style. Fast forward 136 years later and Georg's great-great-great grandson Georg VI. Schneider is overseeing a brewery that still produces beer brewed with that original recipe along with an array of other wheat beers such as Aventinus and Edel-Weisse. Pours a beautiful, rich, dark peach color with a huge, thick fluffy head. Its probably darker than some would expect since a lot of the American hefeweizens tend to be lighter in color. As the remaining yeast drips into the head of this beer it plunges into the beer and leaves a milky trail. Looks very appealing. Smells of cloves, cinnamon and spice, yeast and a bit of apple and banana. Tastes of spice and cloves at first with a nice refreshing follow through. Its a very refreshing beer with some juicy fruit qualities that make it ridiculous drinkable on a warm day. Nothing too overpowering, just a great clean, crisp beer. Beers like this are part of the lore that is the German beer tradition. There's a reason why this beer is still being brewed after all these years, its high quality and delicious.
Posted by Russ Labels: Wheat Beers, German Beers, Hefeweizens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Wiesen Edel~Weisse (Brauerei G. Schneider & Sohn)
There are quite a few European beers that carry the USDA Organic stamp these days. I'm sure its a selling point on both sides of the Atlantic, but my guess is that the organic beer market is much more hyped here at present. That being said, the Schneider Weisen Edel~Weisse is made with both organic malt AND organic hops. Some organic American brews labeled as organic are not brewed with organic hops. This is because organic hops are expensive and hard to source and a beer does NOT need to be brewed with organic hops to be labeled as organic. Because hops constitute less than 5% (dry weight) of the total product, they do not need to be organic. Currently there is quite a bit of action to get this overturned and require all organic beer to be 100% organic. This 100% organic hefeweizen pours a dark yellow to orange color. Its hazy and it looks thick since its unfiltered. This is not some pale yellow hefeweizen to be served with a fruit wedge. This is a serious looking German wheat beer. Be prepared. The head is big and fluffy white. It sticks around for quite awhile before slowly but surely sinking back into the beer. Smell is sweet fruit, cinnamon, cloves, a bit of holiday potpourri and some nice yeastiness. Quite a pleasant smelling beer. Another one I'd like to make into an air freshener. If this beer is half as tasty as it smells I am in for a treat. Tastes spicy and sweet. A couple sips and I can make it some green apples, cloves and some wheat. I was surprised that this beer was brewed with cascade hops since I really don't taste any of the citrus that they usually provide. Its definitely not a big, juicy fruity beer like Aventinus. Instead its a little more thin in mouthfeel and very easy drinking. This is pretty much perfect on a warm/hot day. Its very thirst quenching and refreshing.
Posted by Russ Labels: German Beers, Wheat Beers, Hefeweizens, Organic Beers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
   Circus Boy (Magic Hat Brewing Company)
Circus Boy certainly has one of the more interesting labels in the beer label world. On the front is a cage and in the shadows is the outline of a creepy looking guy. The label on the cage says "The Hefeweizen!". The back of the label reads "Unfiltered and Unfettered. Circus Boy is cloudy by nature, like Burlington, VT itself. Rouse gently to release full flavor". I dumped it in my glass, hoping that was rousing gently. I am never too good at that sort of thing, following instructions I mean. It pours a cloudy yellowish-orange color with a head that goes away but comes back with some rousing. Smells of cloves, banana, slight citrus and Bazooka bubble gum. This is a smooth drinking beer, but I do admit that I am not a fan of light colored wheat beers in general. But, I again refer to my New Beers Resolution that I made with myself. Circus Boy has a light taste of lemon, bits of sweetness and a little cakey aftertaste. There are people that love this beer and I am not going to take that away from them. Its an easy drinking hefeweizen that would be nice on an outdoor deck on a hot summer day.
Posted by Russ Labels: German-style Beers, Hefeweizens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
