The Beer Nut: A new way with hefeweizen

When most people think of German-style hefeweizens, they think of the flavors of clove, and bananas from the yeast.

But out in the Northwest, Widmer Brothers is making a hefeweizen that's not meant to be a German wheat style. It's an all-American interpretation, said Rob Widmer, one of the two brothers who run the Portland, Ore., company.

"What I find is when I sample the clovey flavor of the European styles, I describe it as love-hate," said Widmer, who started the brewery in 1984 with his brother Kurt.

"I personally really love (European-style wheat beer), but I consider it a completely different style of beer from ours," he continued. "If you take a group of people and give them European wheat beers, half will like it and half won't. If you give them our beer, almost all of them will like it."

The Hefeweizen, originally called the Widmer Weizen, was first brewed in 1986, and it became hugely popular once they decided not to filter the beer, leaving it cloudy.

Widmer said when people think about wheat beers on the West Coast, most people think of their beer.

"Sometimes we take some heat from people who say this is a lousy example of a hefeweizen," said Widmer. "In '86, we weren't thinking of styles, we were thinking about making good beers. It's a great pitcher beer. It's so sessionable. It's so easy to drink, and it's as hoppy as many pale ales."

For years, Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen was the company's only beer available in Massachusetts. Widmer said he and his brother planned it that way to build brand recognition before sending the rest of their beers to the Bay State.

Now, along with their flagship beer, the company sells Drop Top Amber Ale, Drifter Pale Ale and Broken Halo India Pale Ale.

They also now have Cherry Oak Doppelbock, which is part of the Brothers' Reserve series of beers.

"This lineup -- these are really great beers," said Widmer. "They've won a lot of medals. "

The Brothers' Reserve series is one way the company is stretching the boundaries of beer making.

Cherry Oak Doppelbock, for instance, is aged in whiskey barrels and fermented partially with cherries.

The beer is a nice sipping beer. Neither the cherry nor the oak overwhelm the base doppelbock, which makes it a pleasant beer to drink. It is the only one of their beers available in 22-ounce bottles. The rest are available in 12-ounce bottles. It's also rather strong, at 8 percent alcohol by volume.

"The beer geeks are certainly going to be drawn to it," said Widmer. "If you're going to sit on the couch, put a movie in after you had a nice dinner, this is the beer for you. It's a good couch beer."

Drifter Pale Ale is brewed with Summit hops, which gives the beer a citrus flavor. It's more of a West Coast-style pale ale, meaning it's a little more hop-centric than East Coast pale ales, which are more malt-forward.

"The interesting thing about Summit hops is the level of aroma you get where you think you have a really bitter beer, but it doesn't drink that way," said Widmer. "You get the flavor and aroma of the hops, but you don't get the bitterness."

The Drop Top Amber is different than most amber ales, Widmer said. They add milk sugar to the beer, which is commonly used in stouts, but not many other beer styles.

"Milk sugar gives you a perception of sweetness without really being sweet," he said.

The Broken Halo IPA is a classic Pacific Northwest IPA, meaning it is heavy on the hops, Widmer said.

"It's real citrusy with a fair amount of bitterness and some warming from the alcohol," he said.

Widmer Brothers beers are available in nearly every state and many stores locally.

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. For questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations, e-mail nmiller@cnc.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out The Beer Nut blog at http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/.