Look out for wheat beers? Well, maybe

If you were writing a book about wheat beers you’d probably think it was good that Anheuser-Busch has rolled out a variety pack of beers brewed with wheat. I do, although I’m not sure this presages a sudden upswing in interest in wheat beers.

I would post this at“Brewing With Wheat” site, but right now that is in information collection mode as opposed to information dissemination.

So, from the press release:

The Michelob Brewing Co. Spring/Summer Sampler Pack, available beginning March 2, includes Michelob Honey Wheat, year-round favorites Shock Top Belgian White and Michelob Dunkel Weisse, and the spring seasonal Hop Hound Amber Wheat. The beers are:

* Michelob Honey Wheat: a silky, smooth filtered wheat ale brewed with orange blossom honey. Brewmaster Kristi Zantop and her team wanted to push the envelope with their newest creation, playing around with different varieties of honey until they found just the right kind to give Honey Wheat a pronounced floral aroma and hints of orange citrus flavor.

* Hop Hound Amber Wheat: an unfiltered American amber wheat ale brewed with Cascade, Willamette and Hallertau hops and a blend of the finest caramel, wheat and pale barley malts.

* Shock Top Belgian White: an unfiltered Belgian-style wheat ale with a naturally cloudy and light golden color, brewed with orange, lemon and lime peels and coriander.

* Michelob Dunkel Weisse: a surprisingly light unfiltered dark wheat ale with unmistakable clove and banana tones, a result imparted from the unique Bavarian yeast strain used.

A-B has sent samples to some bloggers — for all I know one went to our home in New Mexico, but right now we]re trying to figure out where all this East Coast snow came from — so look for reviews online. Here’s one for the Honey Wheat from Jon at the Beer Site.

 

#28 – Where in the beer world?

Where in the beer world?

Where in the beer world?Do you think you know where in the beer world these photos were taken?

Please leave your answer at a comment.

Hint: The photo on the right. Yes, you can figure they don’t sell New Belgium’s Fat Tire Amber Ale because it’s not available to them. Not because they don’t want to.

Bonus hint (since last week there wasn’t a single guess, wild and crazy or otherwise): Don’t go here looking for any Anheuser-Busch, Miller or Coors beers here. Or even some of the other beers generally available in local grocery stores.

Last week’s answer: The photo was taken at the National Brewery Museum in Potosi, Wis., that opened last summer. Worth your time.

Answer added March 8: Owners Scott Shor and Rich Carley opened The Charleston Beer Exchange only a few months ago. The rather small store is packed with only specialty beers. They also have six draft lines to fill growlers, often rare beers that may not otherwise be available in Charleston. There’s a list on their blog.

Taking the soul of beer to the streets

Yesterday morning Glenn Payne, a man who wears several beer coats, sent a quick question from his UK home to many beer types. He asked, “Who’s the soul, who’s the cutting edge of beer; who’s taking it to the street?”

He explained it will be the topic for his presentation at Mondial de la Bière in Montreal this summer.

Of course I’m interested any time somebody asks about the soul of beer, but I was as struck by the question about who’s taking it to the street. It reminded me of something Manuele Colonna said when we were in Rome. By the time I got around to digging out the notebook with that quote Payne had plenty of answers. Among those was one from Ray Daniels, another guy with many beer coats, and these days known as the Circerne dude. He started:

Everyone in the craft industry takes it to the street by living the life of craft beer. Sure there are stars that the punters all clamor to see. But their popularity isn’t based on a pretty face, a million dollar ad campaign or a name made in some other industry and transplanted to beer. The craft beer industry has been built by authentic entrepreneurs who daily breathe life and spirit into their companies and their brands. The accumulation of that personal passion in all its diversity makes this industry interesting and engaging. And it makes the beer distinctive.

You can read the rest here.

Sure enough, what Colonna said fits right in and is a reminder the US doesn’t have a monopoly when it comes to beer passion. When Colonna and two partners started Ma Che Siette Venuti a Fa, a bar which serves beer from small breweries from Italy to Denmark, in 2001 nobody in Rome sold craft beer.

Bar owners went with “name” beers pushed by distributors. “They weren’t interested in what the people in the streets wanted,” Colonna said. “Not the normal people.”

Payne’s request does suggest another question: Do cutting edge beers represent the real soul of beer? Not going near that one today.

 

Diacetyl: An assignment for you, Daniel Bradford

Jay Brooks lists his “Top 10 Least Favorite Defects” (part of an ongoing series he posts each Tuesday) and diacetyl isn’t in there. A bit of a surprise, until Jay explains he has a high tolerance for that buttery, butterscotch flavor.

Popcorn, diacytelIn this case he means diacetyl must be there at a pretty high level before he notices it. For some, many in fact, drinkers tolerance means they consider diacetyl desirable.

I am reminded of the presentation that Lauren Salazar, who oversees the quality control program at New Belgium Brewing, made at the National Homebrewers Conference in Denver almost two years ago. The “doctored” beers included Fat Tire dosed so heavily with diacetyl that it smelled like standing in front of the popcorn machine in a movie theater.

“Diacetyl is one of the first words you learn (in judging beer),” she said. “We are American brewers. We are paid to hate diacetyl. You know how much British brewers hate us for that?”

Anyway, this is a shout out to you, Daniel Bradford. For those of you haven’t noticed, the All About Beer magazine publisher has set out on a quest to become a beer expert. I have no idea how to define a “beer expert” but I think understanding diacetyl would be a step in the right direction.

Of course that means spending time in the countryside around Bamberg, Germany, drinking fresh lagers. Then heading across the border to the Czech Republic for more golden lagers. You’ll also have to down plenty of pints of cask ale in the UK, then compare those experiences with drinking cask ales in the US Northeast. You’ll encounter diacetyl, for sure. How tolerant should you be?

This is not simply a matter of understanding precusors, VDK and all that good stuff. Or arguing whether Northwest hops and diacetyl don’t like each other. There’s something cultural involved.

Looking forward to your report, Daniel.