MassWhole HefeWeizen

Wormtown Brewery - MassWhole HefeWeizen

By Eric Cioffi
 

The days are getting shorter, football season has started, the kids are back to school, and summer is just about over. With all the end of summer gatherings, the tempestuous change in routines, and crazy work schedules, it has been a busy time over here at Hoppy Daze and I am finally getting caught up.  This review is of a delightful wheat beer from Worcester’s Wormtown Brewing and finishes off my assortment of wheat beers.

The Wormtown Brewery is located in Worcester Massachusetts in the same building as Peppercorns restaurant. Opening to the public in the spring of 2010, Wormtown prides itself on using local ingredients whenever possible and has been delivering a vast array of truly unique craft beers.

The name Wormtown is based on the nickname that was foisted on the city during the late 1970’s when there was a punk rock explosion in the area. The independent Wormtown Punk Press covered the music and art scene and hit a nerve in the city. Those who were entranced with punk picked up on the name Wormtown and adopted it quickly to represent themselves and their emerging culture.

Not everyone identifies with Wormtown. Not everyone is involved with the underground music scene, and not everyone is a fan of punk. But the name has stuck and has been adopted by countless Worcester citizens because it symbolizes and embraces the free spirited do-it-yourself ethic that is simply Worcester. Wormtown Brewery has that same spirit - they are creating something unique to add to the mix in of the city. Will it change Worcester the way music did back in the late '70s? Who knows. But one thing is for sure, there is nothing that goes better with good music than good beer.

MassWhole HefeWeizen

All of the ingredients in every batch of Mass Whole are Massachusetts grown. Brewed with 4 Star (Northfield) Wheat and Magnum hops, and Czajkowski grown (Hadley) Valley Malted barley. Bavarian style unfiltered wheat beer with spicy clove and banana aroma. Pale straw color with cloudiness from wheat protein and yeast. Clove and banana continue into the flavor complimented by sweet wheat malt. Medium light body with a spicy dry finish.

Wormtown's take on the classic German style pours a cloudy pale straw color into a weizen glass from a 22 ounce bottle.  A full fluffy head of white foam lingers and draws silky lacing as the bubbles slowly recede. The aroma is clean and carries hints of citrus, banana, clove and sweet bread.

The first sip reveals a medium body with a high degree of carbonation leading to subtle clove spices with citrus and tropical flavors.  With just a hint of tartness, it is not overwhelmed by the Bavarian yeast.  The beer is crisp and smooth, refreshing and easy to drink. For those who want to give German style wheats a try this is an excellent entry into the style.  It is more like an American wheat, yet this ale presents a complicated flavor profile without being overbearing.  This has become my favorite wheat beer and I highly recommend you grab a bottle if you see one.

Bavarian Wheat | 4.9% ABV

Rating: 93

Two Kansas City Wheats - “80 Acre Hoppy Wheat” and “Unfiltered Wheat”

Boulevard Kansas City Wheats

By Eric Cioffi

Just getting caught up on some tastings from the end of the summer. It has been a busy time here at Hoppy Daze.  Back to school and adjusting to the new routines, but hopefully we are back on track. 

I have been on a wheat beer binge lately.  Maybe it has been the glorious summer weather we have had or perhaps I just needed a change from the usual hop bomb IPAs I tend to favor.  Whatever the reason, I am enjoying these delightful brews.

This review looks at two very different wheat beers from Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri.  Boulevard makes some fantastic beer – I love their Double Wide IPA, fashioned in the West Coast style, with plenty of hops. One of the beer gurus at Winchester Wine and Spirits has highly recommended their “Tank 7 Saison” as an excellent representation of that style and my bottle is in the beer fridge awaiting my tasting and review.

Boulevard is not only the second largest brewery in Missouri, but also one of the largest craft brewers in the Midwest. Founded in 1989, Boulevard’s mission consists of producing fresh and flavorful beers using the finest traditional ingredients and the best of both old and new brewing techniques.

The Boulevard story begins in 1988, when founder John McDonald started construction of the brewery in a turn-of-the-century brick building on Kansas City’s historic Southwest Boulevard. A vintage Bavarian brewhouse was installed, and the first batches of beer were produced in the fall of 1989. That November, the first keg of Boulevard Pale Ale was delivered—in the back of John’s pickup truck—to a restaurant just a few blocks away. In 2006, a major expansion adjacent to the original brewery raised Boulevard’s brewing capacity to approximately 600,000 barrels per year—a sizable increase from the 6,000 barrels contemplated in their original business plan.

In a previous review I discussed the differences between American wheat beers and traditional German or Belgian style wheats.  That article can be found here if you want more details. 80 Acre and Unfiltered Wheat are brewed in the American style with a subdued yeast profile.  Both of these beers are very good but they are quite different and it was interesting and pleasurable to taste them side by side and really be able to observe the differences.

We were on vacation and had spent the day at Third Beach at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island laying in the sun and cooling off in the waves. The Refuge maintains 6.5 miles of pristine beachfront and unspoiled dunes. Sunburned and salty, I had worked up a mighty thirst and was looking forward to some ice cold beer.

 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat

With roots in two of today's most popular brewing styles, 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer is the result of careful cultivation by our brewers and cellarmen. Their efforts to craft a hybrid yielded a bumper crop of flavor; delightfully distinctive ale with the aroma of an IPA and the refreshing taste of a wheat beer.  Brewed with Bravo, Zeus, Summit, Cascade, and Nelson Sauvin Hops.

If you enjoy big hop taste you owe it to yourself to try this ale. 80-Acre is an un-filtered wheat beer with a just enough body to keep the brilliant hops in check. It pours a cloudy, pale, straw-yellow color with a delicate head that clings to your glass. The strong pine and citrus that you get on the nose is just as bright and crisp on the palate. You almost notice a faint hint of lemon grass on the back of the tongue between sips. Easy to drink with and very balanced I really enjoyed this beer.  This is a substantial beer full of hop flavor but not overpowering. It will be in my fridge year round for when I want something a little lighter.

American-Style Hoppy Wheat Ale | 5.5% ABV

Rating: 90

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer is a lively, refreshing ale with a natural citrusy flavor and distinctive cloudy appearance. This easy drinking American-style wheat beer has become our most popular offering, and the best-selling craft beer in the Midwest.

Another gem by Boulevard, this Unfiltered Wheat Beer poured a moderately cloudy light yellow color and seemed to be decently carbonated after being conditioned in the bottle. Once in the glass, there rose a wonderful solid two finger white head that seemed to last a good long time. There was plenty of creamy lacing on the glass when gently swirled to let the aroma breathe. This looked like a very well made wheat beer. The aroma was clean and fresh, slightly bready with citrus and tropical expressions.  The beer was crisp and lemony and slightly tart and was light to medium in body.  The hops are barely present adding only a grassy element with no bitterness to speak of.  Very refreshing and drinkable this is one of the best wheats I have sampled this summer.

American Wheat Ale | 4.4% ABV

Rating: 88