Robin Shepard
A can of Bees Be Crazy at a Brewers' game.
Duesterbeck's, a farmstead brewery near Elkorn, Wisconsin, adds a touch of honey to this weizen.
This time of year, I look for light-bodied, bubbly German weizens that are crisp, refreshing and have a yeasty floral sweetness. Hints of bubblegum and clove make some stand out from the pack. My pick so far this summer is Bees Be Crazy from Duesterbeck’s Brewing Company. This farmstead brewery near Elkorn, Wisconsin, adds a touch of honey to the beer. Duesterbeck’s relies on such local producers as Henningfield Honey that has hives next to the brewery’s farmland. About 90 pounds of honey goes into each 20-barrel batch. The honey adds body and a touch of alcohol strength, making this beer slightly stronger than most traditional German hefeweizens. It finishes at 6% ABV. It’s gaining a big following, and was recently selected for the limited craft beer lineup at American Family Field for home Brewers games. Find it locally in four-packs ($12).
A close cousin of the hefeweizen is the Belgian wit, another great summer beer style. A good wit is unfiltered and made with a high percentage of wheat — that gives it a cloudy, milky-yellow color and a pillowy soft white head. Delta Beer Lab’s Wavelength Witbier is a great front porch sipper. Light, bubbly, and soft, there are hints of coriander and orange peel to the nose. Delta’s take on this style is easy drinking at 5.2% ABV ($18/four-pack).
Retro IPAs are also popular this July. Two new ones are at the top of my list.
Central Time IPA from Third Space Brewing is a bit of old school that meets new school. “It combines the elements of ‘90s-era IPAs with piney Chinook hops, alongside newer varieties like Simcoe and Krush hops,” says the brewery co-owner Andy Gehl. The resiny bitterness of the Chinook brings a nostalgic taste of the early craft beer movement. There’s a firm malty backbone that tempers some of the bitterness, allowing the sweeter accents of the newer varieties of juicy Krush to emerge. It finishes at 6% ABV ($11/six-pack) and it will become part of Third Space’s year-round lineup.
Brewmaster Peter Schroder of Starkweather Brewing brewed his Hoppy 250th for the U.S. Semiquincentennial. The West Coast IPA is made with a combination of Cascade, Citra and Magnum hops, a selection that makes this another throwback IPA. It packs lots of sharp grapefruit bitterness from the Cascades; it finishes at 6.4% ABV ($8/pint).
Finally, Daytrip to Bruges, a Belgian golden strong I recently discovered, is well worth the trip to Full Mile Beer Company and Kitchen in Sun Prairie. Brewmaster Bill Morgan nails the style. I consider this one of his best releases so far this year. The Belgian yeast steals the show with its smooth, earthy mustiness and light notes of pear, clove, and vanilla. Even at 7.7% ABV it’s approachable — and great for those not familiar with strong Belgian blonde ales ($7.50/glass and $11/crowler).
