Wheat Night

We had eight tasters and twenty six beers for a pretty epic evening. It also meant we each sampled just 1/8 of a beer, which really is not enough for a reasonable tasting. Also, wheats and hefeweizens don’t feature the same degree of variety as other beers. The ratings were more closely grouped than our stouts and IPAs and generally we had little to comment on.

26. Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat (43.2, 42)
This divisive beer set records for the lowest overall rating and lowest single rating we have served thus far. Brooks gave it a 4 out of 100. Three others had it below 30. Tom gave it an 81, one of his highest marks of the night. Comments included “wildly fruity”, “candyland”, “like a tea and scones”, “Dr. Something’s Elixir” and “fairy tale.”

25. Avery White Rascal (53.7, 63)
Very inconsistent marks ranging from super-low to pretty high for this somewhat wild Belgian white.

24. Widmer Hefeweizen (57.4, 38)
Fruity, sweet, and light with a funky stale aftertaste. Reid’s 70 was the highest rating given.

23. Purkel’s Organic Hefeweizen (58)
I don’t think the brewers of this organic beer had “good beer pong beer, Coors-like” in mind when they brewed it.

22. Estes Park Stinger Wild Honey Wheat (61.6, 19)
The second-lowest rated ratebeer.com brew we have sampled thus far. “Strong, sweet, banana, fruity, spritzer.” Certainly nothing special, and no one noticed the honey – if it in fact existed.

21. New Belgium Sunshine Wheat (64.4, 56)
Wheaty, with a funky aftertaste, with a bit of a seltzer taste. One of the most popular wheat beers but not amongst our blind tasters.

20. Left Hand Haystack Wheat (65.1, 65)
Very spicy and malty, and inconsistently rated by the judges.

19. Paulaner Hefeweizen (66.1, 90)
Very consistent but unremarkable scores for this German, the highest rated on ratebeer.

18. Tommyknocker Jack Whacker Wheat Ale (66.7, 23)
Inconsistent scores for this “sour, pure, bland, one-flavor” local wheat.

17. Erdinger Hefe-Weizen (69.2, 54)
Bland, with a slight wheat aftertaste. Very consistent marks, with all eight scores between 63 and 74.

16. Blue Moon Belgian White Ale (69.6, 46)
Inconsistent marks (Natalie gave it a 35, Brooks an 84) and few notable attributes for this wildly popular Coors product.

15. Franzijkaner Hefe-weisse (69.6)
Generally high marks for this fruity, rich, creamy German hefeweizen.

14. Shiner Hefeweizen (70.2, 29) We thought this was barely beer, more like carbonated cider, yet gave it a pretty decent score. Very tart and lemony.

13. Konig Ludwig Weiss (70.9)
One of our lowest-rated Germans.

12. O’Dell’s Easy Street Wheat (71, 47)
Solid marks and an appreciated honey presence.

11. Homebrew Hefeweizen (71.5)Reid procured this from someone at the bike-shop, and it turned out to feature a solid, woody, and not surprisingly, “home-brewed” taste.

10. Sierra Nevada Wheat (71.5, 37)
Really not much to say. Somewhat bitter and somewhat bland.

9. Flying Dog Woody Creek White (71.7, 76)
We had some very high scores for this bitter, spicy, woodsy, wheaty beer but also a few low marks.

8. Pyramid Hefeweizen (74.2, 33)
Pure and consistent, but not much to it, with a “Coors Light scent.”

7. Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat (74.6, 38)
Consistent scores for this banana-flavored wheat.

6. Breckenridge Hefe-Proper (75.2, 14)
The lowest-rated beer on ratebeer.com we have yet sampled. It had a sour lemon taste and got reasonably high marks from everyone but Tom.

5. Samuel Adams Hefeweizen (75.2, 27)
Not very fruity or wheaty.

4. Bristol Beehive Honey Wheat (75.9, 28)
We enjoyed the strong honey and malt flavor of this Colorado Springs brew, though it left a bad taste in the mouth.

3. Hacker-Pschorr Hefeweizen (77.2, 87)
Big, banana, wheat, fruit, and alcohol flavors. The highest-rated of the bunch on ratebeer.

2. Plank Bavarian Hefeweizen (77.4, 83)
We enjoyed the consistent banana scent and flavor of this high-rated German.

1. Julius Echter Hefe-Weiss (81.5, 74)
Excellent overall ratings for this huge-headed, honey “banana nut crunch” German Hefeweizen.

I put less stock into these ratings than for our other taste tests. 1/8 of a beer is not enough for an adequate test, and we had some inexperienced tasters. By the end of 26 tastings, people were getting bored with it and the unvaried taste of wheat beers made it hard to distinguish between them. We did learn that right now, the Germans know how to make good Hefeweizens and the Americans do not. Tons of room for improvement from American brewers. Right now, if you’re out to buy a good Hefeweizen, go German.