Allagash white-dont like

[Pelican521]

Hey all, I wanted to brew a wheat beer and thought I liked them from the ones I've had in the past. I've had a number if German and other imported ones in the past but its been a while.

i was thinking of brewing one so I thought I'd buy an American wheat to try- Allagash white. Well I didn't care much for it and was wondering what differences there were with types of wheat beers' flavors?

In the end I'm thinking of ordering a wheat kit from Northern Brewer or Midwest but just a little confused.

 

[beergolf]

Allagash White is a Belgian style wit. Even though it is brewed by an American brewery it is not an American wheat.

 

[zachattack]

Yeah, American style wheats are very different from Belgian wheats, which are very different from German wheats. Just because they all have wheat doesn't mean they're the same! Think about all the different beers that include barley

If you like German-style wheats, I'd seek out a hefeweizen, dunkleweizen or weizenbock. Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis is my favorite domestic hefe.

FWIW, I think the Allagash is definitely my favorite domestic wit (a style I don't go crazy for). Much better than Ommegang, for example.

American wheat beers are relatively bland compared to other countries', but they're still tasty. The wheat and yeast make it a little tart and very drinkable.

German wheat beers get a lot of their flavor from the yeast: expect banana esters and clove phenols, and a nice cloudy appearance from the proteins in the wheat and the unflocculated yeast. They're also fairly malty/bready, especially a dunkleweizen or weizenbock, due to the use of German Munich malt.

Belgian Wit (white) beers, like Allagash White, have a lot of haze (hence the "white" name) from lots of unmalted wheat. The yeast adds some esters/phenols, and spice additions usually include some type of orange peel and coriander.

 

[Pelican521]

Thanks zachattack, very informative! I really like Sierra nevada's kellerweis, so that's why I was surprised I didn't like the allagash white. But now makes sense since they're different styles.

I guess it's the bavarian wheats I don't like. Is the kellerweis a German style wheat?

 

[zachattack]

Kellerweis is a German/Bavarian style hefeweizen! I'm not sure if there's a distinction between German and Bavarian weizen styles, maybe somebody else knows.

It sounds to me like you don't like Belgian witbiers. I do like witbiers, and like I said Allagash is my favorite domestic example so far. But for some reason they're the only Belgian style I don't go crazy over.

 

[Gavagai]

Hefeweizen (or 'weissbier' as it's known in Bavaria) is a traditional Bavarian style. When people say 'German-style hefeweizen', they mean the Bavarian beer.

Find yourself some fresh Weihenstephaner and don't look back.

 

[JohnnyO]

Also, you will tend to find more spice additions in a Belgian wit that you will not find in a German hefeweizen. A Belgian wit will almost always have some orange peel/zest or coriander addition. Take those away, and the flavors are similar to that of a hefeweizen.

I brewed a Belgian Wit using yeast I harvested from some bottles of Allagash White. I added some bitter orange peel, some clementine zest and coriander to the end of the boil. It came out delicious. But while drinking it the other night, I could have sworn I was drinking a hefeweizen.