1001 Beers: Hefeweizen

Beer Number 28: Widmer Hefeweizen

Widmer is a brewery that is fairly close to me back at home and I saw it everywhere I went. You could get a Widmer Hefe pretty much anywhere that sold beer and it was a common pick up for people, from my memory anyway, before Blue Moon became what it is today. Again, from my memory. Maybe it was just the local, hometown beer thing. I can't really say.

Widmer is actually changing a lot about what I remember it as. Or maybe I am just noticing more of what they are doing since now I am into beer... again, all the questions about beer at home I just can't answer. I do remember the packaging changing, the release and retirement of a lot of new and old beers, plus their brew and glass set series, thing they are doing. That I know for sure is all new. When it comes to this beer though, it definitely says something about home.

In 1984, brothers Kurt and Rob Widmer opened either the first or second microbrewery in the state of Oregon (accounts differ). Widmer Hefeweizen came about after a local pub owner asked them for an exclusive beer. It is brewed with U.S. hop varieties Cascade, Alchemy, and Willamette, and four types of barley and wheat. With a Hefeweizen that has crisp, clean flavors, but does not have the signature character of its German cousins, the Widmers created the new U.S.-style Hefeweizen. It has won gold medals at the Great American Beer Festival twice, in 1998 and 2006, and has been awarded a gold medal at the World Beer Cup in both 2004 and 2008.

Widmer is the best-selling Hefeweizen in the United States and is popular year-round.

Again, what I was saying. My memories of this beer all revolve around cut up slices of Orange and them sitting in the beer or on the glass. Not really how I would like any of my beers presented to me... And actually, my memories don't revolve around a glass. The orange would be cut up and shoved in the top of the bottle and you drink it from that. Oh, how far I have come since those days.

This beer is quite hazy on appearance and comes with a decent pure white head. The nose is very light and citrusy. Oranges. But you expected that. When you drink it, once again, more oranges. Oranges throughout this whole beer. It is a very light and mellow hefe though, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you are drinking a glass of orange juice or biting into one, it is still beer. The flavor is just througout. Fairly refreshing and a tad earthy.

This is not my style of Hefeweizen. I like to taste bananas and cloves. Some grapefruit maybe. But that is just me. Like the book said, this is the best selling hefe year round... I wonder if that is still true with Blue Moon what it is now...

973 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!