MdV: Merchant du Vin beer e-newsletter – Tues. June 8, 2004: Wheat Beer

NEWS, EVENTS, ARTICLES

When the New York Times tasted and reviewed India Pale Ales on May 26, they listed many from America, where the IPA torch shines bright. They did pay tribute to the nation that invented the style, however, and listed a solitary British IPA among the recommended choices: Samuel Smith India Ale.

The July ’04 issue of Bon Appetite magazine is out, and noted author Garrett Oliver lists some favorite beers to match to grilled food. Among them: Ayinger Brau-Weisse; Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale; Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout.

Festivals in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington; a fantastic beer dinner in Uxbridge, MA; a new very limited draft Belgian ale from Merchant du Vin . . . It’s a great time for fine beer! Complete national events are online at:

http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/news.html

BEER CHAT FROM THE BEER COURT JESTER: WHEAT BEER

Readers know that barley is the heart of beer. It provides color, flavor, and fuel that allows yeast to turn a simple grain infusion into Beer. (Water may be the backbone; hops the spice; and yeast the magic. Barley is the heart.) Well, beer isn’t simple. Barley *and other cereal grains* are the heart of beer: barely, wheat, rye, and oats are the heart of beer!

To an urban person, wheat looks pretty much like barley: it’s a grass with a tall stem, leaves, and a seed head with “bristles.” By fall, it has turned a nice brown-tan color.

The seed head is the part brewers use. Wheat is huskless and has fewer natural enzymes than barley, so brewers use a mixture of barley and wheat when they make their mash. Wheat has a lots of gluten – gooey protein – so wheat beers have a rich, silky feel, even if they are light-bodied. (In fact, many wheat beers are brewed to lighter-bodied styles and serve as great summer quenchers.) Wheat beers also frequently have a glowing haze, due to suspended yeast, or protein haze from the wheat, or both.

Wheat beers can be divided into three general categories: Bavarian style; Belgian styles; and American style wheat beers.

--- Bavarian: what started as a local specialty in Germany has become world-renowned. German wheat beers can be light or dark in color, and their strength can range from low up to very strong (some wheat doppelbocks top 8% abv). They are usually bottle-conditioned, with live yeast in the bottle, and hop bitterness is low. In Bavaria, wheat beers are brewed with a traditional yeast strain that adds spicy flavors – many tasters find the flavor similar to cloves. While German lagers tend to be very clean, and to emphasize malt and hops, German hefe-Weizen (“Cloudy wheat”) or Weisse (“white”) beers really highlight the flavor component provided by yeast. Some Bavarian wheat beers even approach the estery, fruity, yeasty flavor of a Belgian ale.

(Note: Berliner Weisse is a light-bodied, low-alcohol, pale, regional specialty of Berlin made with wheat, and is distinct from a Bavarian wheat beer. The flavor is extremely tart and lactic – Berliner Weisse is often served with a sweet fruit syrup to balance the acidity.)

--- Belgian: Belgian Witbier, or wit, is brewed with wheat (and barley) to a lighter style and usually spiced. Commonly, coriander and orange peel are used as spices; sometimes fruit is added as well. Witbier is light-colored and low in bitterness; usually it has a turbid glow; it’s low in alcohol for a Belgian ale; and finishes with estery complex flavors from Belgian yeast strains. Honest praise for Belgian wit can be found in the number of craft breweries outside of Belgium that are producing Belgian-style witbier.

Some Belgian beers use wheat as an ingredient, but defy simple categorization: lambics, for example, commonly use unmalted wheat in the mash; other specialty brewers will add wheat to unique products.

--- American: Wheat beer brewed in the USA typically is hazy, pale, and not strongly hopped. As with all wheat beers, the brew has a smooth body and long-lasting head from wheat. However, American wheat beers typically use an ale yeast strain that does not add spicy or clovelike flavors. American wheat beers generally are mellow-tasting, quenching, with soft fruity notes, unless the brewer specifies the beer as a “Bavarian-style” wheat or a “Belgian-style” witbier.

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