Tasting #4: Wheat 'N' Wild!

So I've got good news and I've got bad news... The GOOD news is the roster has gained another new taster, Chris, who replaces Duncan (I SWEAR it had nothing to do with his "bad" judgements from last week) at the table. The bad news is we had a few "hiccups" with tonight's beer line-up. I asked my fellow tasters to go out and buy 1 or 2 wheat beers that they'd like to have for the tasting, which they did. ...Or atleast as far as I knew they did. What I initially thought was going to be 6 wheat beers for us to taste ended up only being 4, as two of the beers that got bought were - in fact - NOT wheat beers at all. I may be partially to blame - as I was in the LCBO with them when they were purchasing them, and I MAY have given the okay on both of them, but that's all just irrelevant details... So to save you readers from ever making this mistake yourselves, maybe we should take a look at what "wheat beers" actually are...

Wheat Beers

Wheat beers (known as "Weissebier / Weizen" to the Germans, and "Witbier / White ale" to the Belgians) are beers that are brewed with 50% - 60% of the grain bill being made up of malted wheat, and the rest malted barely. The wheat brings a nice, creamy smoothness to the beer, along with a bright, lemony citrus taste. They're typically lightly hopped, and thus hops are not a major player in the aromas or flavours here. What IS a large player is the yeast, which is a special kind of ale yeast that gives the beer its characteristic clove, banana, and bubble gum-like aromas and flavours. Unlike other styles of beer, leaving the beer completely unfiltered and making sure to get the yeast out of the bottom of the bottle and into your glass when it's poured is common practice, and will intensify those yeasty characteristics. Overall, wheat beers are perfect summer patio beers. With their effervescent carbonation, creamy mouthfeel, and bright, fresh, and quenching flavours, this is the perfect alternative to that "same old lager" you always turn to on a hot day.

Beer #1: Molson Canadian Wheat

Molson Canadian Wheat

One of the beers we were SUPPOSED to have had for the tasting would have been an original Bavarian Hefeweizen (the type of wheat beer that Molson is trying to imitate with this beer). However, what was unfortunately bought instead was an imported German lager that was in among all the other wheat beers (I really should brush up on my German), so unfortunately we won't have anything to compare the Molson Canadian Wheat to. 

Molson Canadian Wheat is Molson's attempt to cash in on the resurgence in popularity of craft and imported Bavarian Hefeweizens as an alternative to lagers. Just as a side-note, I had my first regular Molson Canadian lager in over a year a couple weeks ago, and while it wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Budweiser lager from the first tasting (in fact, I actually somewhat didn't mind it), it had a very strange sweet, corny (Molson uses corn in the beer, just like Anheuser-Busch uses rice), and somewhat perfumey taste to it that was not at all what I expect from a good lager. 

Getting back to the Canadian Wheat though, upon pouring it, I can't say I am much more impressed with this beer than I was the lager, based off the smell anyways. The aroma has very slight weisse-like characteristics of faint cloves and banana, but is mostly dominated by that sweet, corny, and oddly perfumey smell of a regular Canadian lager. In fact, it's weisse characteristics are SO faint that my co-tasters (who aren't familiar with wheat beers) are having a hard time even picking up on any difference between this and a regular Canadian lager. I'm not really shocked, but I'm going to hold out judgement until I have a taste. Drinking the beer, it at least mostly has the "feel" of a weissebier, very effervescent and creamy feeling in your mouth, and goes down pretty smoothly. Unfortunately, that's as far as the comparisons go, as - like the aroma - this tastes exactly like a corny Molson Canadian lager. My co-tasters agree with me, though they all did like the creamy smoothness of it.

Beer #2: Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel

Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel

This next beer is brewed by Erdinger Weissbräu out of Erding, Bavaria. Erdinger started in 1886, and has grown to become the world's largest and most popular traditional wheat beer brewery, as well as one of Germany's largest private breweries in general. They brew a number of different beers, all of which are different kinds of wheat beer. The one we're tasting tonight is their Weissbier Dunkel (dark), which is basically a darker, brown wheat beer with slightly darker malt character than your typical weisse (pronounced "vise", just in case you were wondering).  The aromas of the beer definitely reflect the colour, with notes of molassesy banana bread, dates, stone fruits, and a light toasty caramel too. The flavour of the beer follows suit, with sweet, caramelly, date-like maltiness, and maybe a hint of banana in the background from the yeast. It's also silky smooth on the mouth and extremely easy to drink, with a nice effervescent carbonation, and finishes relatively clean. As it warms, it starts to take on a slightly toasty, nutty flavour as well. Overall, my co-tasters and I agree that this is an excellent beer with great flavour, and yet remains silky smooth, clean tasting, and easy to drink right to the last drop.

Beer #3: Hoegaarden Witbier

Hoegaarden Witbier

Hoegaarden Witbeir is a Belgian style wheat beer brewed by Hoegaarden Brewery in Hoegaarden, Belgium. What sets Belgian wheat beers apart from German wheat beers is the fact that the Belgians typically "spice" their beer with both coriander and citrus peel to give a distinctive "Belgian" taste to their witbier. Hoegaarden Witbier is no exception, and if you are ever looking for a classic Belgian witbier, look no further than this beer. Upon pouring, it is all spicy coriander and and tart lemon on the nose. Tasting it, the nose definitely translates to flavour. There is a strong presence of coriander, but also a very strong lemon flavour that is quite tart, so tart that it almost makes your tongue salivate. Just like the other wheat beers we've had so far, this beer is very smooth and creamy. Overall I think this is a very solid beer, and a perfect example of the style. It might be a slight shock initially to beer drinkers who have only ever drank mass produced lagers, but once you've learned to accept that there is no one definable "beer flavour", it's an easy beer to love.




 Beer #4: Flying Monkey's Imperial Maple Wheat

This final beer is brewed by Flying Monkeys Brewery, a brewery formed in 2005 in Barrie, Ontario under the name of Robert Simpson (the first mayor of Barrie) Brewery. In 2009, the brewery re-branded itself the Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, and changed all of their beers and marketing to match their fresh, new, innovative approach to brewing. All of their beers are a little "different" and tend to push boundaries, a philosophy that is reflected by their personal motto: "Normal is Weird". The beer we are tasting tonight is a one-off, limited time only beer that was a collaboration between the Flying Monkeys Brewery and Dallas Green of City and Colour. This beer is labelled an "Imperial Maple Wheat", with "Imperial" meaning that it has basically "double" of everything (Malt, hops, alcohol content, and - of course - flavour!). This particular beer comes in at 11.5% abv., making it more of a "wheat wine" than a wheat beer. I have personally bought several bottles of this beer since it was first released about a month and a half ago, but have yet to drink any. Instead, I have decided to cellar the other bottles for over a year, to see how the beer develops (yes, you can cellar beer, which is a topic I will go over in a future post). Needless to say, I am really looking forward to finally trying this beer.

Flying Monkey's Imperial Maple Wheat

Pouring it into the glass, the entire vicinity around me was just completely FILLED with the aroma of pure maple syrup. Getting the beer actually poured into all of our glasses and actually taking a sniff from the glass, there is just SO much going on in this beer that it's almost overwhelming. The first thing that hits you right in the nose outright is the sweet maple, with a nice creamy vanilla note behind that. With every degree of temperature that this beer warms, it evolves and releases new aromas to smell and enjoy. Over the next few minutes of smelling, my co-tasters and I picked up on aromas of black liquorice, apple-cinnamon, molasses, and even a light nuttiness.

Now that we've finally decided it was time to stop smelling the beer and actually taste it, I am completely blown away by every aspect of this beer. The beer itself is very "syrupy" in mouthfeel initially, coating, with a low carbonation. It starts off with a very big, very rich maple syrup-like flavour, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon spice when it first hits your tongue. As the beer travels over your tongue and to your throat, you start to get dark cherry-like flavours, and a hint of black liquorice. After swallowing the beer, you are left with a nice light bready maltiness on your tongue, with a good background flavour of vanilla, and the slightest, short-lived tinge of hop bitterness on the sides of the tongue. The beer - as one of my co-tasters put it - is almost like an "experience" more than it is a beer. There are so many aromas and flavours going on, all of which are changing and evolving with every passing moment as the beer warms. If I had to explain the taste of this beer in once sentence, I would say it's like drinking apple-cinnnamon pancakes just drenched in pure maple syrup. What amazes me most about this beer though is that it starts off so incredibly strong and rich in flavour, and yet it ends so incredibly smooth and clean. Though I wouldn't recommend drinking this entire 750ml bottle to yourself (just because of how rich it is), it would definitely be the perfect beer to bring to a family Thanksgiving dinner (or any other such event) to share with multiple people, and to pair with food. My co-tasters and I agreed, this beer has so much going in it that drinking it could very easily be called an "experience", and an experience that should definitely be shared and savoured with family or friends. Amazing beer, top-notch brewery.

Conclusions and Rankings:

Sid's Rankings:                                              Jeff's Rankings:
1. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat      1. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel
2. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel                    2. Hoegaarden Witbier
3. Hoegaarden Witbier                                 3. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat
4. Molson Canadian Wheat                         4. Molson Canadian Wheat

Steve's Rankings:                                          Chris' Rankings:
1. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel                     1. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat
2. Molson Canadian Wheat                          2. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel
3. Flying Monkey's Imp. Maple Wheat      3. Hoegaarden Witbier
4. Hoegaarden Witbier                                 4. Molson Canadian Wheat

Though we had a few troubles leading to less beers in this tasting than I would have liked, I think we still tasted a very good variety of wheat beers. Once again I think I was able to surprise my co-tasters with tastes they've never tasted in a beer before, and turned them onto things they probably never even knew they liked before. The highlight of the evening for me was the Flying Monkeys Imperial Maple Wheat, and I'm so glad I waited this long to try it, so I could share it with other people and go on that "journey" that it takes you on together with them. Where will we go next on this "craft beer journey"? I don't know exactly, but you can be very sure it will be somewhere filled to the brim with exciting, tasty, new craft beers to discover! Until next time...

Enjoy a craft brew!!!

- Sid Ryzebol -