At My Wit's and Wheat's End

“Now I'm sitting here, sipping at my ice cold beer,

All I've got's this sunny afternoon.”

--by Ray Davies of the Kinks; Sunny Afternoon from the LP Something Else.

This is my personal favorite time in the year for beer.

Summer is here and it is time for some great wheat beers.

I like the Belgian wit beers, but to be quite frank, German Wheat beers are the best.

I am a Hacker-Pschorr (pronounced Hacker SHORE) fan, but I like Tucher and Paulander, and a few others.

As far as American wheat beers, I am a fan of Sunset from Leinies, Solstice from New Glarius, and my favorite is Flying Dog’s In-Heat Wheat.

The other day, I ordered a case of Hacker-Pschorr, and Chris (owner of Budget Liquors) said “Eric, this is your favorite time of year—you are the Wheat Beer expert.”

Thank you Chris, but others may take exception to the word “expert.’

Still I love it and I HAVE to join Keith at Oktober-fest in Germany once in my life.

I love the “clove-banana” taste in certain wheat beers. Wheat beers should be cloudy and have a rich, thick head.

They should be bit orange in color and they should go down smoothly.

I hooked my principal on Blue Moon, more of a wit beer to the mass market. Blue Moon is owned by Coors, but Coors promised not to tamper with the original recipe for fear that their tampering would destroy it. In my opinion, this is a smart move for Blue Moon and for Coors. By the way, I truly think this helped me secure a spot as a department chair.

Wit beers are generally given an orange slice to bring out the flavor, as pure wheat or weisse (German for wheat) beers have a lemon. Normal, I think fruit in beer is like asking for a kick in the skull, but it is a good thing in the case of wheat beers. Most purists will not imbibe with the fruit, but I am a “lemon freak” and enjoy them—as I do oranges.

For the record, novices out there, never put an orange in a Weisse or a lemon in a Wit. Both will ruin the flavor.

After mowing the grass, a wheat beer is pleasurable. When Guinness and Chumley and I sit on the porch with a nice breeze filtering in, a wheat beer is ambrosia. Take a chance and cool down, relax, and taste the true flavor of liquid bread. Wheat beers are perfect any time of year, but summer loving is the best.