Wheat beers are often left unfiltered, which gives us the familiar term “hefeweizen.” Hefe is the German word for yeast and refers to the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. The standard pouring techniques for wheat beers are designed to pick up this sediment (more on those in a later post). However, today’s beer is a filtered American pale wheat ale and as such identifies more with the lesser know term, “kristallweizen.” The “kristall” prefix refers to the relative clarity of the beer. The key word there is “relative.” It still has the cloudy goodness of a wheat.
If you’ve read reviews of Capital Brewery’s Island Wheat, you know that many of them can be summarized into one word. “Meh.” The average review doesn’t jump out and extol its wonders but also doesn’t outright bad mouth it. I think it’s about time I investigate.
If you’ve read reviews of Capital Brewery’s Island Wheat, you know that many of them can be summarized into one word. “Meh.” The average review doesn’t jump out and extol its wonders but also doesn’t outright bad mouth it. I think it’s about time I investigate.
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| A 12oz. bottle into a .5l glass is a little silly, but it's a good glass. |
The color looks good and the head came out as I was expecting from the pour I used. When I lean in to sniff, I don’t detect much. I’ve read people say they get a lot of bready aromas, but I think that’s probably from the lack of other smells to drown them out more than their own strength. It is very smooth and easily goes down. However it doesn’t quite have that oomph you’re probably looking for. Deep down, I really like this beer but I find my self feeling like Bill Cosby commenting on his first child’s birth, “Can you put this back? Because it isn’t done yet.”
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| He's so great with the kids! |
What this beer needs is more. I’m not sure if it needs something in particular, just more.
The wheat used in this brew comes from Washington Island, just off the Door County coast in Lake Michigan. The island has an area of about 23 square miles, so it’s not huge. Maybe its production just isn’t high enough to support the grain bill this beer needs and should be increased. However, tourism is the main industry on the island so you don’t want to go cutting down all of its trees. I propose they do like New York and use garbage to create new ground. Of course you might say dumping massive amounts of trash into the lake is counterproductive and would be vehemently opposed, not to mention the public relations nightmare that would ensue, but this is Wisconsin we’re talking about here. They know how to get it done!
The wheat used in this brew comes from Washington Island, just off the Door County coast in Lake Michigan. The island has an area of about 23 square miles, so it’s not huge. Maybe its production just isn’t high enough to support the grain bill this beer needs and should be increased. However, tourism is the main industry on the island so you don’t want to go cutting down all of its trees. I propose they do like New York and use garbage to create new ground. Of course you might say dumping massive amounts of trash into the lake is counterproductive and would be vehemently opposed, not to mention the public relations nightmare that would ensue, but this is Wisconsin we’re talking about here. They know how to get it done!
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| Oh, you didn't like that bill? I'm sorry. |
While you may not find super reviews of Island Wheat, don't let that stop you from trying it. It's a little small but solid.
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