Crisp, Creamy, Bitter

The warm and muggy days of summer are quickly approaching and one category of beer that goes hand in hand with summer is the wheat beers from Belgium, Germany, and the U.S. While the American wheat beers of the late ’80s and early ’90s were a pale imitation of their German and Belgian forefathers, the style has been rejuvenated through the use of the American hop varieties.
As has been the fashion of American brewers to highly hop their beers, this is also the case with a small but growing number of wheat beers brewed here in this country. Hoppy wheat beers are an American creation and are fantastic.
The original American wheat ales were basically our ‘easy-going’ version of a German hefeweizen. However, these American creations typically do not use German weizen yeast, and did not offer the clove, bubblegum, nutmeg, or banana flavors associated with the Bavarian hefeweizen ales. Using American ale or lager yeasts, the first wheat ales tended to be gentle, lighter, and slightly fruity, with a mild tangy component. Hops were used minimally, so as to not overwhelm the delicate flavors.
The hopped out wheat beers, which I think of as American pale wheat ales, (APWA?), are perfect spring and summer beers, hoppy yet wheaty, more flavorful than American wheat beers, but not as strong as American pale ale or IPA.
If one beer is the perfect example of a hoppy wheat, it would be Oberon Ale. Brewed by the Bell’s Brewery out of Kalamazoo, Mich., Oberon is spectacular, and such a great leap beyond other standard wheat beers. The brewery states on the beer’s label that it is “the color and scent of a summer afternoon”. Bell’s uses Saaz hops, which give a spicy bitterness to this wheat and fruity ale.
Another example of a wheat beer that employs significant amount of hops is the collaboration beer brewed by Brooklyn Brewery of New York and Schneider brewing of Germany. Hopfen-Weisse is a classic German heffe brewed with huge amounts of local hops.
Other beers that could be considered “hoppy wheat ales” include Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ from Lagunitas Brewing Company, Gumballhead made by Three Floyds Brewing Company, and Crack’d Wheat of New Glarus Brewing Company.
Also of interest is the appropriately named Hop Sun from Southern Tier Brewing Company. Hop Sun is a tangy, lemony ray of sunshine in the glass. Southern Tier also offers an “imperial” version of this beer, called ÜberSun, which checks in at 8 alcohol by volume (ABV) and is probably closer to an IPA brewed with wheat.
And this is what I would like to see: A true American IPA brewed with, say 20 percent wheat malt. Where Oberon and the above are wheat beers brewed with some hops, I would love to have an IPA brewed with some wheat. There are a few rare examples in existence, but most are more Belgian Witbier-like, and are often called White IPA. Beware, there is also the Anheuser-Busch brewed Shock Top Wheat IPA, but I suggest avoiding this bland bore. Magic Hat has Honey Wheat IPA, but I’ve yet to see it. Please let me know if you find a great, wheat IPA, summer is coming! Enjoy the brews … Cheers.
 
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. While they don’t have every beer the Beer Snob writes about, they probably have most. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.