How to Survive a Heatwave
Written: Jul 22 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Crisp, refreshing, wonderful light fruitiness and honey.
Cons: You'll have to pay a little more.
The Bottom Line: A great crisp refreshing wheat beer that draws many comparisons to a pilsner while adding a little characteristic ale fruitiness. A quintessential summer brew.
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| andaryl's Full Review: Anchor Wheat Beer |
In my recent visit to the Westwood Brewing Company, I was very surprised by the popularity of their Hefeweissen. American wheat beers, as well as blonde ales are probably the easiest drinking microbrew styles available, and therefore very welcoming to drinkers otherwise raised on pilsners.
When summertime comes around, even heavy ale drinkers enjoy slipping into the refreshing comfort and quaffability of a wheat beer, myself included. It seems that at this time of year (and it’s hotter here than it is for any other beer drinker in the USA), there’s nothing more enjoyable than a wheat beer. So it was, that I was drawn towards the Anchor Wheat Beer that my wife brought me back from her recent visit to San Francisco.
Anchor Wheat Beer
Anchor Wheat claims to be the “first American wheat beer in modern times”. At the time of its introduction in 1984, wheat beers had already gained popularity in the USA in the form of German and Belgian imports.
Anchor Wheat Beer is an all-malt beer, with 65% coming from malted wheat. It is top-fermented with an ale yeast, filtered (most wheat beers are cloudy) and uses Hallertauer hops.
In his book, “The Beer Companion”, beer guru Michael Jackson describes Anchor Wheat as “the best example of the American style.” Of course, as a cynic I could add that he doesn’t mention it at all in another of his books, “Ultimate Beer.”
Tasting Notes
Nothing entices the drinker more than an impressive pour, and Anchor Wheat is no disappointment. Lots of foam and lots of lively swirling bubble activity make a great first impression. The foam is white and firm, a little snowy, staying right through to the end of the drink, while the body is a pale yellow color and surprisingly clear. My wife (always useful for visual analysis of beer) commented that this one looked a little like a lemon meringue.
First impressions are that this is a pilsner, but it is top fermented (pilsners are bottom-fermented), and there is an abnormally firm white foam which I believe is a result of the wheat.
The nose keeps me guessing towards pilsner for a while. There’s a good mixture of sweet malt, a little honey-like, with a flowery and peppery spiciness from the hops. Without even taking a sip you can tell that this is going to be very refreshing and thirst quenching.
A nice sharp carbonation hits the tip of the tongue, while this quickly smoothes and runs nice and lightly over the rest of the palate. It’s not too heavy, somewhere between light and medium bodied.
The flavors are pretty subtle but pleasant, starting out with a good wheat maltiness. There are vague hints of lemon and sweet apple, while a little honey becomes more evident as the beer gets warmer. There’s a wonderful crisp dryness to the finish, briefly bitter, that balances things out well. The dryness lingers along with a little sweetness from the lemon and honey.
Verdict
I was totally taken by surprise with this one. It seemed very close to a pilsner throughout, drawing upon the crisp refreshing qualities of that style. As an ale it also throws in a little more character adding a subtle sweet fruitiness to the pleasure. It’s a little different to other wheat beers I’ve tried that are usually slightly more grainy and maybe a little fuller in body. European versions will usually be fuller in character too, with maybe a little herbal flavor and aroma.
As good as this beer is, I wouldn’t recommend that the average drinker rushes out and buys this one as they may get just as much satisfaction from a pilsner 6-pack and at lesser expense. Mine came as a gift, so I’m not sure about the price, but I’d guess it’s probably in the premium price category, as is Anchor Steam. It’s certainly a beer to be enjoyed by beer fans, an ale that does everything a pilsner can, and then a little more. This really is a quintessential summer brew, the kind of beer that makes it worth working up a thirst for.
Ratings
Note: if anyone would like an explanation of my rating scale, I’d be happy to give more detail. I only really include them here as a personal record.
Pour: 5/5 Aroma: 7/10 Palate: 4/5 Taste: 8/10 Overall: 15/20
Score: 3.9
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
andaryl
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Member: Andrew Smith
Location: California via Yorkshire
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