95 Samuel Adams Utopias 2007, The Boston Beer Co. (MA). 27% ABV (8/08) Reddish, deep copper color. Warm caramel, baked
Cider is made from fermented apple juice. As with wine, the character and quality of the resulting product will bear heavily on the variety and quality of the fruit used. The cooler climate of Vermont is well suited to high quality apple production, and produces a sizeable amount of quality sparkling hard cider. The finest ciders in North America may well emanate from the province of Quebec in Canada, which has an established artisanal cider industry with historical ties to Normandy cider. These Quebecois ciders are slowly starting to appear on the U.S. market.
The origins of rauchbier lie with breweries in the region of Franconia in northern Bavaria, which traditionally dried the barley over fires fueled by beech trees from local forests. The resulting pungent malt imparted an assertively smoky aroma and flavor to the beer from which it was made. These smoked lagers generally feature a very malty framework on which the intensely smoky character will not become overbearing. Rauchbiers are still brewed in the traditional manner by many of the breweries centered around the town of Bamberg, though enterprising brewers in other parts of the world have begun to make similarly styled beers.
Gueuze lambic, fruit lambic, faro. Lambic beers are perhaps the most individualistic style of beer in the world. Lambics are produced in tiny quantities immediately south of the Belgian capital, Brussels. Lambic brewers use native wild yeasts in the open-air fermentation process to produce these specialties. This unusual fermentation, in conjunction with extended aging in oak barrels, imparts a unique vinous character with a refreshing sourness and astonishing complexity. Lambics labeled as gueuze are a blend of young and old beers. Such blending results in a sharp champagne-like effervescence and tart, toasty flavors. Those labeled as faro have had sugar, caramel or molasses added in order to impart a note of sweetness. Lambic beers, however, are more often seen in the United States when they have been flavored with fruits. Kriek (cherry) and framboise (raspberry) are the most popular and traditional fruits employed. Other exotic fruits are widely used in juice form in the more commercial examples of lambic beer, much to the consternation of purist connoisseurs.
These are lagers or ales to which fruits have been added in order to impart flavor or color. Depending on whether or not the seasonings have been used in the fermentation or as an addition of juice or extract, the beer will have more or less of the desired character. These beers are highly individualistic, and allow the brewers great creativity in their formulations. They will range from mild aromatic overtones to intense and pungently flavored concoctions.
Generally, I find myself enjoying a wheat-based beer during the summer months: hot weather and wheat beer go hand-in-hand, after
Turning wheat beer into a cocktail has precedent in Europe, where alcoholic cordials or fruit syrups can be used to help beer slide down more easily. Flavored wheat ales are an increasingly popular specialty category, covering a number of flavoring options that brewers have adopted, particularly in the United States, the home of “throw-the-rule-book-away” hybrid beer styles. The two most significant additives are fruit and honey, usually employed separately. Raspberry is a common choice of fruit to flavor these styles and the best examples have faithful fruit essence and avoid any sweet cloying character. Honey can add richness to the palate and give a hint of sweetness. Herbs and spices are also encountered, but the possibilities are endless. Chocolate dunkel raspberry weisse anyone?
Wit beer is a style of flavored wheat. It is distinctly Belgian in origin and is still very closely associated with this lowland country. Wits employ a proportion of unmalted wheat in the mash, but also have flavor added in the form of Curaçao orange peel and coriander, among other ingredients. Their appearance is marked by a hazy white precipitate and these beers generally have some sedimentation. Typically, these are very refreshing summer thirst quenchers. Their popularity in the United States is growing, with some notable examples to be found.
As the name would suggest, these are ales that use a proportion of wheat in the mash to add a protein haze. Wheat ales inspired by the German weizen tradition were popular before Prohibition in the United States and are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. This generic category encapsulates the diverse interpretation of the classic German weizen styles brewed in America and elsewhere. A host of variables ranging from the wheat/malt ratio, hopping and filtration/non filtration all contribute to wide variations on the theme. Generally, U.S. examples feature a more marked hop accent than classic German weizen styles and are often dryer.
Weizen bocks are essentially winter wheat beers, originally brewed in Bavaria. The color can be pale gold to brown. They are of higher alcoholic strength, as high as 7% ABV, showing a warming personality, though they should still have a significant rocky head when poured. These beers combine the character of hefeweizens and dopplebocks and as such are rich and malty with estery, yeasty qualities, and show a note of wheaty crispness through the finish.
