Anchor Brewing Company Winter Wheat

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Anchor Brewing Company Winter Wheat.

From the Anchor Brewing Company website: “We've been making wheat beers since the summer of 1984. They've all been golden summer refreshers instead of dark winter warmers—until now. Anchor Winter Wheat™ is made with a unique blend of malted barley and five wheats from Belgium, Germany, the Midwest, and a family farm just 75 miles away, where we get our soft red winter wheat. Sown in November and harvested in June, it is used in artisanal flatbreads, cakes, and pastries.

In 1848, California farmers forsook their amber grain for golden fortune. By 1878, California wheat was back big-time, winning gold at the Paris International Exposition. There was even a wheat beer brewery in North Beach, one mile from our first home. Today, the robust flavor, malty complexity, enticing aroma, ebony color, and thick, creamy head of Anchor Winter Wheat™ reflect this delicious heritage.

Anchor Winter Wheat™ is made with a unique blend of 2-row pale barley malt, Belgian roasted wheat malt, German pale spring wheat malt, "Midnight" and hard red wheat malts from the Midwest, and unmalted soft red winter wheat from a local family farm. The result is a smooth, complex, dark brew with a creamy, lacey head; deep, rich mouthfeel; nutty, bread-like, and subtly roasted flavors; and a crisp, clean finish. A special ale yeast provides clean flavors with hints of dark fruit. And a single hop, Northern Brewer, provides earthy, woody, and minty notes with just the right amount of bitterness.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours dark brown with a large and dense light brown head and lots of lacing.

Aroma: Roasted, chocolate and bready malts, wheat some hints of spice, dark fruits and yeast.

Taste: Roasted and bready malts, wheaty, nutty, slight dark fruit, caramel, chocolate and a touch of molasses.

Overall: Smooth, wheaty and roasty, Anchor Brewing Company Winter Wheat is delicious.  This 7% ABV offering is worth a try. I’m glad I picked up six pack and next season I’m likely to pick up another.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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