Beer of the Weekend #146: Summit Hefe Weizen
The beer of the weekend is the beer I wanted last weekend (thank you, Dirty’s): Summit Hefe Weizen, brewed by the Summit Brewing Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
This is, as best as I remember, only my second experience with SHW. The first was the well-documented night in Mervgotti’s basement the summer after we graduated from high school. Ever since righting my fear of wheat beer I have wanted to retry SHW. Tonight, boys and girls, is that night. On with the tasting.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There is a cryptic code printed on the label, but I can’t make head or tails of it as a freshness date.
Appearance: Poured into a pint glass. The color is a cloudy blend of lemonade yellow and orange juice orange. The first half of the pour was a clear gold, and I had to really work the yeast sediment at the bottom to get it looking like a proper hefe. Two and half fingers of thick white foam developed and dissipated to leave a nice Brussels lacing along the side of the glass and a spotted foamy lacing on top.
Smell: Classic hefe. My first impression was the bananas and clove spice. A couple swirls reveal scents of apple and lemon.
Taste: Reminds me of unbaked kuchen or bread dough for some reason. The taste is unique among the hefes of my life: instead of prominent bananas and yeast up front, the clove spice and lemon dominate. The banana, yeast, and apple follow but are subtler than I prefer. There is a slight hint of caramel as well. In general, the beer tastes watered down and the mouthfeel leans toward Orangeade.
Drinkability: It’s fitting, really. The beer that turned me off wheat beer during my younger drinking days turns out to be extremely tame and, frankly, a little weak. However, it is still a descent brew and very refreshing during this 85º Midnight hour.
Fun facts about SHW:
-Style: Hefeweizen, the beer of the gods.
-Price: $6.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.9 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, tangy cheeses (Brick, Edam, Feta), salad, poultry, fish, and shellfish.
-IBU: 14.
-Gravity: 14.4º Plato.
-Color: 5 SRM
-SHM is Summit’s summer seasonal brew, but I can’t track down its availability dates. Summit is definitely a Midwestern brewer I want to keep in mind as the seasons change. Like many microbrewers, they brew appropriate seasonal offerings. Oktoberfest is available in the fall, Winter Ale during those cold winter months (when those cute Minnesota girls know how to keep a man warm), and in the spring Summit releases Maibock. It’s way too early to be thinking of spring, but I am already waiting eagerly for Maibock.
-Interestingly, on a trip to Dirty John’s tonight with Tom of Churchill’s Cigar, I saw some Summit Maibock in the room temperature beer area being sold as individual bottles. It’s tempting to buy a few bottles now, even in the midst of wheat brew season, but I don’t want to chance it being a little past it’s prime, thought I’m sure it would still be good drinking.
-From now on, Tom of Churchill’s Cigar will be known as Bobblehead. His nickname came to me tonight while he talked with his wife on the phone. I thought long and hard for a proper Quiet Man pseudonym for him, and now I finally have one.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B.
This is, as best as I remember, only my second experience with SHW. The first was the well-documented night in Mervgotti’s basement the summer after we graduated from high school. Ever since righting my fear of wheat beer I have wanted to retry SHW. Tonight, boys and girls, is that night. On with the tasting.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There is a cryptic code printed on the label, but I can’t make head or tails of it as a freshness date.
Appearance: Poured into a pint glass. The color is a cloudy blend of lemonade yellow and orange juice orange. The first half of the pour was a clear gold, and I had to really work the yeast sediment at the bottom to get it looking like a proper hefe. Two and half fingers of thick white foam developed and dissipated to leave a nice Brussels lacing along the side of the glass and a spotted foamy lacing on top.
Smell: Classic hefe. My first impression was the bananas and clove spice. A couple swirls reveal scents of apple and lemon.
Taste: Reminds me of unbaked kuchen or bread dough for some reason. The taste is unique among the hefes of my life: instead of prominent bananas and yeast up front, the clove spice and lemon dominate. The banana, yeast, and apple follow but are subtler than I prefer. There is a slight hint of caramel as well. In general, the beer tastes watered down and the mouthfeel leans toward Orangeade.
Drinkability: It’s fitting, really. The beer that turned me off wheat beer during my younger drinking days turns out to be extremely tame and, frankly, a little weak. However, it is still a descent brew and very refreshing during this 85º Midnight hour.
Fun facts about SHW:
-Style: Hefeweizen, the beer of the gods.
-Price: $6.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.9 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends German cuisine, tangy cheeses (Brick, Edam, Feta), salad, poultry, fish, and shellfish.
-IBU: 14.
-Gravity: 14.4º Plato.
-Color: 5 SRM
-SHM is Summit’s summer seasonal brew, but I can’t track down its availability dates. Summit is definitely a Midwestern brewer I want to keep in mind as the seasons change. Like many microbrewers, they brew appropriate seasonal offerings. Oktoberfest is available in the fall, Winter Ale during those cold winter months (when those cute Minnesota girls know how to keep a man warm), and in the spring Summit releases Maibock. It’s way too early to be thinking of spring, but I am already waiting eagerly for Maibock.
-Interestingly, on a trip to Dirty John’s tonight with Tom of Churchill’s Cigar, I saw some Summit Maibock in the room temperature beer area being sold as individual bottles. It’s tempting to buy a few bottles now, even in the midst of wheat brew season, but I don’t want to chance it being a little past it’s prime, thought I’m sure it would still be good drinking.
-From now on, Tom of Churchill’s Cigar will be known as Bobblehead. His nickname came to me tonight while he talked with his wife on the phone. I thought long and hard for a proper Quiet Man pseudonym for him, and now I finally have one.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B.
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