Beer of the Weekend #77: Hefe“r”weissen

Greetings from Iowa City!

Yep — I’m home in the heartland, where there’s water in the rivers, the chicks are cute (I’ll get to that later), and the plants are green green green. Damn, I love this place. The aroma, the women, the sunsets. I really don’t want to go back to SoCal.

The only thing I’m peeved about is that Rock 108 replaced their evening “rock jock” with Lou Brutus’ syndicated show, “hardDrive XL,” a spin off of “hardDrive,” which aired only on the weekend (I forget which day). I’ve always admired and appreciated Rock 108’s independence, but their lack of an evening studio jock is weak. I might write and voice my disapproval. For now I’ve turned my little stereo to KCCK. Ahhh — jazz.

Anyway, BotW is making a Thursday appearance because I’m unsure if I’ll be able to fit in a tasting the next two nights. My cousin is getting married on Saturday, and the rehearsal dinner is tomorrow, so tonight is the night. And boy do I have a treat.

My dad and I took a little local tour today. We went to the cheese factory in Kalona to pick up some cheese curd and landjägers, then over to Amana for a visit to the Millstream Brewery and more landjägers (it was hard, but I refused and am staying meatless), and then finally to fabled Dirty John’s for a beer and beerware run. I bought some PBR and two glasses: a Dirty John’s/PBR pilsner glass, and a half liter hefeweizen glass, which I’m using for the beer this weekend…

Hefe“r”weissen brewed by the Millstream Brewing Company of Amana, Iowa.


Serving type: One 1-liter (33.8-ounce) bottle. Embarrassingly, I thought the bottle was called a growler. Nope — and I found out the hard way. I asked the guy working at the register how much the “growler’s” were, and he said some price and then, “…and the glass is four-fifty.” The glass? I thought. “Do I have to buy a glass?” I asked. I don’t remember what he said, but he looked up and touched the empty wide bottles hanging above, which reminded me of larger versions of milk bottles, and then I knew what he was talking about. When you buy a growler you’re not only buying the beer inside, but also the bottle, which can be returned and refilled. So my moment of trying to be a beer geek at a brewery blew up in my face. Grrr! And I’m a writer who should know what words mean before I use them.

Appearance: Very attractive brew, but, then again, all hefes are attractive to me. Poured a cloudy light-wheat, which was close to straw blond. Three fingers of thick head developed, but there was little retention.

Smell: Banana and lemon dominate, but there is also a sweet apple cider aroma and bubble gum. The yeast comes through, too, as well as some clove spiciness.

Taste: Lemon sweetness is prevalent, but the banana takes a back seat, even to the bubble gum. The yeast is more pronounced than it was in the smell, and the clove is much more powerful.

Drinkability: It’s not complex, but it’s good drinking. The Amana’s German founders would approve, I think.

Fun facts about Hefe“r”weissen:

-Serving temperature: 45-50°F (gleaned from the BA profile; there really wasn’t much information about this brew since it’s from a small local brewery).

-Alcohol content: Unknown. Even the Millstream website doesn’t list it. The beer doesn’t even have it’s own profile on their site, which is wrong.

-Food pairings: German cuisine (maybe some landjägers?), tangy cheese, and poultry and shellfish.

-According to Millstream’s brewing schedule, Hefe“r”weissen is only available from June to August. Their filtered wheat, Windmill Wheat — which I found really lacking for a wheat, though it’s the only unfiltered version I’ve ever had — is available all year.

-So, at Dirty John’s I saw the cutest chick. Goddamn. She was the epitome of Midwest — though mainly Iowa City — girls, the reason I won’t date while in California: cute, simple, unpretentious, and real. Wow. I don’t like chicks who are “hot.” I like chicks who are cute.


The Quiet Man’s grade: B.

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