Shiner Holiday Cheer

As today is Thanksgiving and, by most standards, the start of the ‘holiday season’, I thought I’d give this Texas brewery’s holiday brew a chance. I’ll probably need a lot of them once the Christmas carols start in earnest, a month before the actual day arrives.

Spoetzl Brewery
Shiner, TX
Holiday Cheer

The color is deep copper – almost garnet, and the head rushes up the confined base of the weizen glass and creates a tan pillow at the rim.

Caused little cheer in the house of the Brew Yorker

The nose is somewhat diaper-like, but sweet, negating any unpleasant association. Certainly, the peaches that Shiner claims to add are evident in the nose and create much of the very sweet, but not saccharine, aroma. There is no real hint of wheat, though perhaps more than an inkling of hops. The brew is supposedly a Dunkel and supposedly has pecans in it as well, but the sweetness overwhelms any hint at nutty or roasty notes.

The mouthfeel is reasonably good – full, to start – but gives way to a thinner fruity spread. The sip is surprisingly complex with a semblance of hop character on the sides of the tongue and a malt-coating quality. The initial peach-and-apricot flavor overwhelms the finish but, after a few slightly squeamish sips, settles down a bit to let the rest of the brew come out.

There might be an inkling of pecans in the top of the palate, but it is quickly washed away in a flood of soft, pitted fruits. The surest hints of a wheat beer are in the bubbles – the effervescence matches an active bottle-condition wheat, but there is no soapy banana and bubblegum touch; neither the tangy zest that you get when you sip a golden wheat nor the surprisingly buttery cleanliness of a dunkelweiss.

The beer would succeed more, I think, without the fruit essence spoiling the finish. This is more akin to Magic Hat #9 than any German dark wheat, and Spoetzl needs to tone down the sweetness. Try one, it’s not unpleasant. In fact, you may love it, but this one’s not for me.

Lancaster Strawberry Wheat

Lancaster Brewing Co.
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Strawberry Wheat

While a beer that I would most certainly not ordinarily order, buy, or look at. However, it is a Pennsylvania brew and certainly seems interesting. Likewise, the beer was mae with Cascade and Hallertau hops so should be an interesting meeting of West Coast and Noble.

As expected, the beer is lively and is audibly effervescent. The head is clean white and rocky – not billowy – and dissipates rapidly. The carbonation looks steady, though not quite pearl strands and more of a meteor shower of bubbles heading to the surface. The color is penny-copper with a touch of bronze – it’s like an Irish Setter.

The nose is too sweet for me and reminds me of berry-flavored bubble gum. A slight malt aroma appears in the form of graham cracker but it is still too sweet to discern anything different. The mouthfeel is good. The effervescence really kicks in nicely and tickles the front end of the swallow with out overwhelming the palate with carbonation.

The initial flavor is like a berry lozenge, though isn’t quite as sweet. The Hallertau hops do a good job of introducing a slightly peppery earthiness to get away from the sticky sweetness. The finish is drier than you might think, though the strawberry flavor persists. It comes across as ‘freeze-dried’ and lasts a bit longer than it should. However, sacrificing that sweetness would probably produce a brew with less body than this one.

If you’re a wheat freak, you should probably steer clear. It’s a nice summer brew, but has little grass or bitters for you. If you’re into fruit beers, this will probably do nicely for you. If you’re not, give this a go and expand your horizons. It doesn’t take quite the leap of faith to enjoy as some other fruit-laden beers might. And who knows? You may even enjoy it.

Flying Dog Woody Creek White

Flying Dog Brewery
Denver, CO
Woody Creek White Belgian Style Witbier

Here’s another wheat and another offer from Flying Dog.

I poured this into a small, sample-sized, straight-sided glass. The pour is even and bright and the head is fizzy, but not so lively that it is uncontrollable. The clarity is good, but not 100%, and the carbonation is neat and even with really nice pearl strands running up from the sides and bottom of the glass. The head is pure white, sturdy but not spilling. The color is hay and straw – a lovely light golden color.

The nose is soapy and slightly floral, with a sweet lavender aroma. Bubblegum and parsley come through as well as a faint caraway spice. This beer smells complex and a bit fruity. That citric back hints at some good hops but which will probably be more mild on the tongue.

The first sip hits more on the bubblegum side, with a faint chalkiness like the coating of old baseball card chewing gum. A slight sweetness touches the middle of the tongue, but finishes with just a bit of metal, almost like wintergreen or pine. A bit of yeastiness is there, but  will likely come through more at the end of the swallow.

The lacing is widely-spaced, but clings in wide swaths of foam. The beer, as a whole, is quite nice but lacks just a final complexity that would really round it out. It’s on the way to tasting a bit like a farmhouse ale, but it really is a light wheat ale and perfectly enjoyable, particularly for a hop-head like me who was not so keen on whites to begin with.

Flying Dog always puts forth a good effort and this brew stands up well as a session. It is worth a try, though I’m wil
ling to bet that after a glass or two, you’d want a dog with a bit more bite.

Penn Weizen

Pennsylvania Brewing Co.
Pittsburgh, PA
Penn Weizen

The beer is exceptionally lively – fizzing and climbing up the glass with all but a delicate pour. I poured slowly, leaving a bit too little at the end for an adequate swirl to agitate the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle, but got some nice brownish beer toward the end.

Into a hefeweizen glass, the beer is very gold toward the bottom, though darker brown and almost copper toward the top. Thanks to the yeasty murk, the clarity is low. Light passes, but not much. The head settled quickly, but I imagine a slightly less genteel pour would yield more quartz-like rockiness.

The nose is sweet like honey and citrus with the wheat coming through like green apples and cardamom.

The mouthfeel is medium, with light effervescence on the tongue and a faint film over the palate. The yeast adds a refreshing zing on the back sides of the tongue though there is a grassiness at the start of the swallow the is not too metallic but just a bit like celery that it clears the palate. Sweetness does not stick in the swallow, which prevents any phenolic attributes, but the beer lacks a real zing. Certainly, it is perfect for a hot day, and I could drink more of these than most wheats. A good session to pair with heavy German foods.