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 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.



I always wonder whether or not to write about places like Blackbird. It's a Chicago mainstay. Everyone knows about it. But having eaten there recently it would be a shame not to wallow in the near-perfection of the restaurant. Even sitting at the bar, I had a terrific dinner.

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