#370: Hefeweizen – Pyramid Breweries, Inc., Seattle, Washington I found this beer on draft not too long ago and really, really enjoyed it. It comes by way of Pyramid Breweries, founded as Hart Brewing Inc. in 1984 in Kalama, WA, later changing its name to Pyramid Breweries Inc.  in 1996. In 2008, Pyramid was gobbled up by Magic Hat, itself acquired by North American Breweries two years later. The hefeweizen is the brewery’s big mover, and it’s brewed with Two Row Pale Malt, Malted Wheat and Carmel Malt, and hopped with Nugget and Liberty. Checks in at 5.2% ABV. I must say, I’m quite proud of my pour on this one. Pouring a hefeweizen is tricky business. It’s one of the few instances in which I trickle down the side of the glass (otherwise you get a counter filled with foam), and the timing can be a little perplexing. But I think I nailed it in this instance. Ok, enough with the patting myself on the back. Onto the beer, which is a lot darker than I remember it being on draft. The draft version seemed much more gold, pale in shade. This one almost looks like Schneider-Weisse, though the photo is certainly making it look a bit darker than it is. The aroma is filled with juicy fruit, such as lemon, pineapple and perhaps a little banana. Nice, but I would’ve liked a little clove there to help spice it up a bit. Errr… just a bit fizzy for my tastes. I like my hefeweizens to greet me with a nice jolt up front and then take on a more creamy consistency from mid palate on. This doesn’t really happen here. It stays fizzy, and borderline watery, throughout most of the progression. The flavors are fine enough, if unremarkable, as banana and yeast-driven fruit flavors dominate the range. A little more of a stated malt flavor would’ve been nice, but the weak body is also hurting that. Finishes quite thin, leaving a little fruity flavor on the throat. The Verdict: This was excellent on draft, but it leaves much to be desired in the bottle. Fine enough, unoffensive for sure, but you’d have a hard time convincing me to buy it if Schneider-Weisse is anywhere near by.

#370: Hefeweizen – Pyramid Breweries, Inc., Seattle, Washington

I found this beer on draft not too long ago and really, really enjoyed it. It comes by way of Pyramid Breweries, founded as Hart Brewing Inc. in 1984 in Kalama, WA, later changing its name to Pyramid Breweries Inc.  in 1996. In 2008, Pyramid was gobbled up by Magic Hat, itself acquired by North American Breweries two years later. The hefeweizen is the brewery’s big mover, and it’s brewed with Two Row Pale Malt, Malted Wheat and Carmel Malt, and hopped with Nugget and Liberty. Checks in at 5.2% ABV.

I must say, I’m quite proud of my pour on this one. Pouring a hefeweizen is tricky business. It’s one of the few instances in which I trickle down the side of the glass (otherwise you get a counter filled with foam), and the timing can be a little perplexing. But I think I nailed it in this instance. Ok, enough with the patting myself on the back. Onto the beer, which is a lot darker than I remember it being on draft. The draft version seemed much more gold, pale in shade. This one almost looks like Schneider-Weisse, though the photo is certainly making it look a bit darker than it is. The aroma is filled with juicy fruit, such as lemon, pineapple and perhaps a little banana. Nice, but I would’ve liked a little clove there to help spice it up a bit.

Errr… just a bit fizzy for my tastes. I like my hefeweizens to greet me with a nice jolt up front and then take on a more creamy consistency from mid palate on. This doesn’t really happen here. It stays fizzy, and borderline watery, throughout most of the progression. The flavors are fine enough, if unremarkable, as banana and yeast-driven fruit flavors dominate the range. A little more of a stated malt flavor would’ve been nice, but the weak body is also hurting that. Finishes quite thin, leaving a little fruity flavor on the throat.

The Verdict: This was excellent on draft, but it leaves much to be desired in the bottle. Fine enough, unoffensive for sure, but you’d have a hard time convincing me to buy it if Schneider-Weisse is anywhere near by.

#224: Rauchbier – Baron Brewing, Seattle, Washington I’m finally trying a rauchbier that hasn’t been made by a German brewer (if you exclude my friend Jon’s home-brewed rauchbier, which was pretty tasty). So let’s fix that statement: I’m finally trying a rauchbier that hasn’t been made by a German brewer and can be purchased by people visiting this web site. Today’s example comes from Baron Brewing, which was opened by Mike Baker and Jeff Smiley in 2003 after the two discovered their love of German beer during a trip there. It checks in at 5.0% ABV, and 80% of the malt is smoked with beechwood. Bring on the bacon. Well, first things first. What a dreadfully unclean glass I poured this beer into. Apologies. I don’t recall the sequence of events, but it’s safe to say this is all my fault. I’m sorry, Baron Brewing, for not doing your beer the aesthetic justice it deserves. It’s a bit impressive though, that even with the assortment of bubbles clinging to the side of an oily, unclean glass, the head performed quite well. Also, the color gets me excited, in all of its slightly burnt orangey glory. Not nearly excited, though, as the aroma. Beer is a very subjective experience. Flavor compounds, some barely noticeable by the nose, can trigger any number of memories, thoughts and occurrences that we can somehow associate with beer, making the experience better or worse. For me, rauchbier (particularly this one), takes me right back to my family’s trips to Vermont when I was a young fellow. We would all be sitting in our cabin, the smell of burning, scorched wood from the fireplace permeating the house, while watching a movie we rented and eating bagged popcorn. Then you would go outside and smell the cold, crisp air, filled with that same smoky scent, coming from other houses. That’s what this beer smells like. Tastes like that, too, but the beer’s smokiness turns up a few notches, which was rather unexpected. I’m happy about it, though. First impressions: lovely body. Filled with ample carbonation, but not too much, keeping the mouthfeel crisp and the beer flowing with ease. I wouldn’t call the beer deeply bready, but there’s considerable breadiness there and it makes for a nice, full body of flavor. It’s the smokiness, though, that is the star of the production. I was really hoping for bacon/smoked meat flavor, and that’s certainly evident on the palate. Again, I’m pulled right back to Vermont. However smoky, crisp air tastes, it must taste like this beer does. I’m sorry if I’m a little all over the place with this review, I’m just excited. It’s pleasant to be drawn back in time, while having the ability to say that the flavor of flaming meat is tucked into the beer your drinking. Yeah, I dig it. I certainly wasn’t disappointed in my first American-made rauchbier. It has everything I love about the style, but tempered down just a tad, which isn’t really a bad thing. Score: 3.5/5.0

#224: Rauchbier – Baron Brewing, Seattle, Washington

I’m finally trying a rauchbier that hasn’t been made by a German brewer (if you exclude my friend Jon’s home-brewed rauchbier, which was pretty tasty). So let’s fix that statement: I’m finally trying a rauchbier that hasn’t been made by a German brewer and can be purchased by people visiting this web site. Today’s example comes from Baron Brewing, which was opened by Mike Baker and Jeff Smiley in 2003 after the two discovered their love of German beer during a trip there. It checks in at 5.0% ABV, and 80% of the malt is smoked with beechwood. Bring on the bacon.

Well, first things first. What a dreadfully unclean glass I poured this beer into. Apologies. I don’t recall the sequence of events, but it’s safe to say this is all my fault. I’m sorry, Baron Brewing, for not doing your beer the aesthetic justice it deserves. It’s a bit impressive though, that even with the assortment of bubbles clinging to the side of an oily, unclean glass, the head performed quite well. Also, the color gets me excited, in all of its slightly burnt orangey glory. Not nearly excited, though, as the aroma. Beer is a very subjective experience. Flavor compounds, some barely noticeable by the nose, can trigger any number of memories, thoughts and occurrences that we can somehow associate with beer, making the experience better or worse. For me, rauchbier (particularly this one), takes me right back to my family’s trips to Vermont when I was a young fellow. We would all be sitting in our cabin, the smell of burning, scorched wood from the fireplace permeating the house, while watching a movie we rented and eating bagged popcorn. Then you would go outside and smell the cold, crisp air, filled with that same smoky scent, coming from other houses. That’s what this beer smells like.

Tastes like that, too, but the beer’s smokiness turns up a few notches, which was rather unexpected. I’m happy about it, though. First impressions: lovely body. Filled with ample carbonation, but not too much, keeping the mouthfeel crisp and the beer flowing with ease. I wouldn’t call the beer deeply bready, but there’s considerable breadiness there and it makes for a nice, full body of flavor. It’s the smokiness, though, that is the star of the production. I was really hoping for bacon/smoked meat flavor, and that’s certainly evident on the palate. Again, I’m pulled right back to Vermont. However smoky, crisp air tastes, it must taste like this beer does. I’m sorry if I’m a little all over the place with this review, I’m just excited. It’s pleasant to be drawn back in time, while having the ability to say that the flavor of flaming meat is tucked into the beer your drinking.

Yeah, I dig it. I certainly wasn’t disappointed in my first American-made rauchbier. It has everything I love about the style, but tempered down just a tad, which isn’t really a bad thing.

Score: 3.5/5.0