Beer of the Weekend #619: Anchor Winter Wheat

It’s been a slow week on The Quiet Man. I did go to Sharpless yesterday, but my camera was temporarily broken.

The deadline for my next monthly recommendation is due on Sunday and I have no clue what I am going to recommend. Time to try a couple beers. The beer tonight is Winter Wheat, brewed by the Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco, California.


Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. “4SI” is printed on the back label, which translates to a bottling date of September 9, 2014.

Appearance: Pours black into a pint glass, which I was not expecting. I assumed it would look much more like a hazy, pale orange domestic wheat A finger of buttery, dense, tan head settles evenly, leaving a few bubbles, a skim of foam, and a ring around the edge.

Smell: The aroma is pretty light, but what I can pick out are chocolate, toasted malts, perhaps a little roast, a little medicinal rubber, tannin, and black licorice.

Taste: Whoa. The flavor profile is much more robust than the aroma led me to believe. Roasted malts are prominent right off the bat. The medicinal rubber quality from the smell is present, but thankfully subdued. Other flavors include toasted caramel, black licorice, and tannin.

Drinkability: This is a tasty treat. It is not spectacular, but it is a pleasing, dark brew.

Fun facts about AWW:

-Style: BA classifies it as “American Dark Wheat Ale.” Oddly, it is not even included in the line-up of beers on Anchor’s website — at least yet.

-Price: $1.79/bottle at the Drug Town on First and Rochester in Iowa City.

-Alcohol content: 7 percent ABV.


The Quiet Man’s grade: B.

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