Sharing my hard work in learning about, brewing and even drinking beer.

I am a beer nerd, homebrewer and hopefully future beer competion judge. I am working my way through sampling, learning about and hopefully brewing all eighty current BJCP beer styles. It's hard work, but somebody has to do it.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Summertime...

and the drinking's easy. At least it should be.


Summer, however, does not come easily here in the 'Burgh. It rained almost every day in April and, May was not much better until about the last week. To celebrate finally getting a few nice days, I decided to explore some traditionally 'summer' styles. First up was American wheat (or rye) beer, which the BJCP style guidelines describe as a "refreshing wheat (or rye) beer that can display more hop character and less yeast character than their German cousins."


This is a bottle-conditioned beer, which I hadn't realized. I poured most of the beer into my Sam Adam's glass, and (unintentionally) left a bit in the bottle. About 3/4 of the way through I poured the rest in to discover that it was mostly yeast. Surprise! The added yeast mellowed the sweetness of the beer, and did not detract from the taste.


This beer is remarkably easy drinking for a beer that clocks in at almost 6% alcohol. It has a smooth body with a slightly sweet flavor with a hint of a honey flavor. The aroma is floral and herbal. The biggest thing that I noticed is that this beer was not as tart or astringent as wheat beers can sometimes be.


Overall, if you have a generous budget and want to throw a kicking summer party, this would definitely be a beer that I would recommend.

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