As promised it’s the wheat beer taste-off! I’m not sure if it was the sixer of Spotted Cow my wife brought back from the New Glarus brewery, the fact that I wasn’t included on the trip to the brewery or the repeated viewings of Beerfest, specifically the Donald Sutherland character on his death-bed drinking Prost! every 2 minutes and finishing glass after glass… followed by belching.

For whatever reason if I’ve been drinking beer, I’ve been drinking
wheat beer. In addition to the New Glarus, I picked up Capital
Brewery’s Island Wheat, both more Belgian style and Trader Joe’s Widmer
Hefewizen more of a inflatable water park traditional German wheat. As expected the Wisconsin
brews rocked but the Joe’s did quite fine.

Wheat beer is a top fermented beer that’s creamy and sweet. It can come
with a lemon or orange wedge and sometimes reminds me of bubble gum. It
also is often served in a giant glass. Portland gave me a great
selection of wheats from the Deschutz Brewery. Something I really enjoy
is the local beer varieties. The best in the area is in my opinion New
Glarus’ Spotted Cow. It’s more or less well known but not available in
Chicago.

Another option that also may not be available in town is the
Capital Brewery Island Ale. Not as sweet as the Cow but also very rich
and creamy. The Widmar is somewhat different. It’s a traditional weizen
and not as light and near-citrusy but for a regular beer drinker it may
be a better more enojyable drink. And it’s the one that you can get in
most Trader Joe’s.

My wife has always enjoyed a good weiss beer. I’ve come to relish it –
as of this past summer. Considering I’m still working up the courage to
ask my parents for a set of liter beer steins (more of a laugh than
anything), I think I have a future to look forward to.

Prost!