Beer and Food

A Taste of… Leinenkugel Berry Weiss

J. Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

Chippewa Falls, WI / Milwaukee, WI

Preface: As I mentioned in the blog about the Honey Weiss, three or four months ago I was at the initial presentation of the Leinenkugel summer beers.  At that event, I had an interesting conversation with the Brewers and representatives about the different ways that they mix their beers together.  Their promotional material encourages this mixing.  One of the beers that particularly caught my attention was this one, called Berry Weiss.  It is included, three bottles of it, in the 12 pack that they are presenting on the market. The following are the tasting notes of this product from this morning’s tasting.

Appearance: There’s a bit of a red tinge to this beverage, more of a strawberry rather than a raspberry color. The head that sits atop this brew is a very rocky, slightly tan colored foam made up of medium to large bubbles.

Aroma: As soon as I opened up above this beer there was a distinct strawberry aroma.  It continues quite dramatically, as one raises the glass to your lips. However, in the space between lip and sip it causes the aromas to smooth out slightly.

Mouth feel: As with their other Leninkugel wheat beer, this has a very lively feel to the mouth.  After the initial sip, the mouth feel is not as large as expected.  The carbonation as well as the sweet flavor adds to the body.

Flavor: There is a distinct, yet undefinable “berry” flavor to this beer. The sensation of strawberry seems to be the most important flavor, although the picture on the bottle shows red and purple raspberries.  The label notes “Beer brewed with honey and flavored with blackberry juice and other natural berry flavors.”  What is surprising to me is the amount of hop flavor that is in the finish. The hop flavor does continue all the way through, not overpowered altogether by the very flavor.

Finish. Although this is a berry flavored beer, in the end, if you rub your tongue across the top of your palate there remains a sensation of hops that is fairly pleasant.

Comments: I can definitely understand the marketing concepts behind flavored beers. There are many breweries in the United States the flavor their beers, particularly for sale in the summer time.  This is one of those beers.  There are two reasons I would drink this beer. The first is as a dessert beer, perhaps poured over fresh fruit and a tall glass. The second way I would drink this beer, is as part of a mix. Combining this particular beer with a stout or Porter would certainly be an interesting flavor combination. I can also imagine combining this with the citric based flavored beverage. Making a shandy out of this would be quite refreshing. I give the people at Leninkugel a great deal of credit for trying this particular beer, and suggesting the many different ways that it can be used to mix with other beers.

Alcohol content: 4.7% by volume

The brewery site: http://www.leinie.com/berry_weiss.html

A Taste of… Leinenkugel Honey Weiss

J. Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

Chippewa Falls, WI / Milwaukee, WI

Preface: Three or four months ago I was at the initial presentation of this beer in the New York City area and had a chance to talk to the brewers, and their representatives. What I found very interesting was there interest in combining their beers to create new flavor sensations. I understand that their public relations department has made a great effort to suggest blending combinations to their customers and find this form of advertising to be very refreshing.

I have included a picture of the packaging that this beer came in. It is a 12 pack and totally enclosed. I was impressed for two reasons: the first reason is that keeps these beers from becoming light struck. (It is my understanding that most wheat beers have a tendency to be light struck both in shipping and in presentation in the stores.)  I was also impressed with the efforts the brewer made to give this beer a good presentation. Where I purchased it the price was just slightly over $1.10 a bottle.  Should they continue this packaging through the summer time I believe they can anticipate it being a successful seller.

Appearance: This beer is a crystal clear golden straw colored brew that appears to be very effervescent.  It has a slightly rocky, not too densely packed rather fragile head that is not too long-lasting.

Aroma: This brew has a very malty, cracker aroma with slight hints of floral new-mown grass.

Mouth feel: The lively effervescence gives this beer is slightly larger mouth feel than would be expected and it has a slight viscosity to it that is not common to North American wheat beer.

Flavor: The flavor sensations echo of the initial aromas of this beer. The combination of flavors is less emphatic than the mouth feel.  However, there is seamlessness between sip in lip flavor sensation. Neither the flavor of hop or wheat/malt is overpowering.

Finish. The finish to this beer is more hop than wheat. The hop finish itself is not overly enthusiastic, yet is a rather pleasant palate cleanser.

Comments: I am a fan of the Bavarian style of wheat beer and also appreciate the wheat based beers brews of French Canada.  For my taste, however, the American style of wheat beer leaves something to be desired. This beer is no exception. In the future I will find it interesting to do a blind taste test against a regular lager beer, including this beer into the tasting. Nevertheless, it is a refreshing beer, and I can anticipate it being enjoyed on a hot day in the summer. There is a slight saline tang at the very end of the aftertaste and this would go very well with any type of seafood.

Alcohol content: 4.9% by volume

The brewery site: http://www.leinie.com/honey_weiss.html

Greetings,

“This is, perhaps, both the broadest and narrowest style of beer. It is broad in that every major brewers, as well as mid-sized and regional brewers, label their basic beer as “Premium” at the coaching of their advertising departments. It is narrow in that these same brewers are economically restricted to producing a product that is acceptable to the consumer, at the lowest production cost possible.”

           “The beginnings of this situation can be found in the fantastic economic growth of companies after World War II. At that time the economy of size created mega-corporations that produced millions of “affordable” automobiles, appliances and beer. These products met minimum standards and were sold on price rather than quality.”

  
          “The effect on the American brewing industry was that unique beers became too expensive to produce, promote and distribute. In the late 1960’s there were less than 100 commercial breweries in the United States and most of them were owned by three corporations. These corporations met an increasing demand for refreshing beverages that were as inexpensive as possible to produce and sold at a low cost to the consumer.”

           “Today, all the major American market their “standard” beers as “premium,” and their premium beers are called “super premiums.”         To try to justify the “premium” appellation, commercial brewers try to insure these products contain only 25-30% rice and/or corn and often use more expensive malt.”

            “According to the Association of Brewers’ 2004 Beer Style Guidelines, American Style Premium Lager is a style that, “Has low malt (and adjunct) sweetness, is medium bodied, and should contain no or a low percentage (less than 25%) of adjuncts. Alcohol by volume is usually between 4.3-5%.”

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

The above is one of my entries to The Oxford University Companion to American Food & Drink:
http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-American-Food-Drink/dp/0195307968/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201787712&sr=1-1

Greetings,

“This style of beer is a light-straw colored, full bodied, lagered,  bottom fermented beer named after the town of Pilzen (in what was then known as Bohemia), where it was first brewed in 1842. It quickly became a popular unique style because it was so different from the amber brews that were the norm at that time. Pilsener Urquell (literal translation - “Original from Pilzen”), named for the town of Pilzen, in what is now the Czech Republic, was the first golden colored lager developed in the Seventeenth Century. Until that time almost all brews, ale and lager, were amber colored or darker.”

“Unlike the producers of Champagne, who legislated on an international level, the use of the word “Pilsener” on the label of a beer often has no relation at all to the place of origin of that particular beer. The word “Pilsner” has come to mean any bottom-fermented, golden colored, sparkling malt beverage.”

            “Even the Association of Brewers’ 2004 Beer Style Guidelines has three different “Pilsener” classifications: European-Style Pilsener, German-Style Pilsener, and American Style Pilsener.”

“They describe the American Style Pilsener as a “classic and unique pre-Prohibition American-style Pilsener (that) is straw to deep gold in color. Hop bitterness, flavor and aroma are medium to high, and use of noble-type hops for flavor and aroma is preferred. Up to 25 percent corn in the grist should be used, and some slight sweetness and flavor of corn are expected. Alcohol by volume is between 5-6%.”

“N.B. - “Pilsener” is the spelling used by the Association of Brewers.”

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

The above is one of my entries to The Oxford University Companion to American Food & Drink:
http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-American-Food-Drink/dp/0195307968/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201787712&sr=1-1