Color Your Beer White To Beat The Heat

Red beers may be all the rage, but in this kind of weather, I prefer white.

No, not “light.” No, not “wheat” - although that’s awfully close.

White beer is a spicy style of unfiltered wheat beer that originated in Belgium, so named because of its pale color and yeasty cloudiness. It’s traditionally brewed with unmalted wheat and often a bit of oats for smoothness, along with dried Curacao orange peel and coriander.

White beer temporarily disappeared from the Belgian scene following World War II, but was revived by a milkman and budding brewer named Pierre Celis in the late 1960s under the Hoegaarden label.

After Celis was bought out by Belgium’s biggest brewery, Interbrew, he moved to Austin, Texas, and began making a “hill country” white beer under his own name (although he’s been bought out again, this time by Miller).

Available in specialty beer and wine shops, Celis White is soft and smooth, with a distinctive citrus/spice aroma and aftertaste - great with seafood, or just for sipping on a sultry summer day. Think of it as the Gewurztraminer of the beer world.

While a few Northwest microbreweries have made white beers on a limited basis, Seattle’s Hart Brewing has just introduced one as the regular summer seasonal offering from its Thomas Kemper label, following brewmaster Rande Reed’s recent trip to Belgium.

Along with the traditional ingredients, including a Belgian yeast, Kemper White boasts a “secret” spice. (While Hoegaarden has been rumored to contain cumin, a Hart spokesman says that’s not it.)

There’s also a new summer seasonal from Hart’s other label, Pyramid: a spinoff of the light, golden Kolsch (imagine the two dots over the “o”) ale style from Cologne in Germany.

Pyramid calls its offering Kalsch, after Kalama, the small Columbia River town north of Vancouver where the brewery is located. A refreshing summer alternative to wheat beers, it delivers lots of herbal hop character thanks to classic German Hallertau and Hersbrucker hops.

Unfortunately, because of distributors’ decisions, neither of the new Hart products are available in Spokane. You’ll have to hit a more sophisticated city, such as Seattle, or Coeur d’Alene - where they can be found in bottles and even on tap in a handful of places such as Capone’s and Catcher in the Rye.

Hank’s, honey?

Speaking of wheat beers, remember that Henry’s honey wheat from Blitz-Weinhard that I mentioned a couple of months ago?

No, I haven’t seen it yet, either, but I wasn’t making it up; the latest word has it becoming available this week, meaning it should appear in stores soon.

Meanwhile, another noteworthy offering from a big brewer has rather quietly crept into the market: Killian’s Irish Brown Ale, from Coors.

Deep mahogany, with a malty aroma, it shows some sweetness and some roastiness in its finish from a combination of caramel and chocolate malts. While it’s thinner-bodied than most micros, it’s a drinkable dark beer for this time of year.

Press release

If cider is more your style, you’ll be happy to hear that the superb Seven Sisters Cider from Sandpoint has made a major entrance into the Spokane market, thanks to Roening Distributors.

The lineup includes hard cider made from apples, pears and raspberries, along with non-alcoholic ciders in apple and apple/raspberry.

Look for Seven Sisters Cider on tap at the Fort Spokane Brewery, the Viking, Birkebeiner Brewing Co. and Wine Stein’z, and in bottles at Jim’s Home Brew Supply, Spokane Wine Company and the 4-Seasons Coffee Co.

Making tracks

And speaking of Birkebeiner, the year-old brewpub on the eastern edge of downtown is looking for a new home.

Owner James Gimurtu says plans call for moving the brewing equipment in six months, and the rest of the business within a year; several sites are being explored, both downtown and elsewhere.

Dueling doppelbocks

Home brewers have until Sept. 1 to enter the Great Northwest Home Brew Competition sponsored by Portland Brewing Co., part of the Great Northwest Microbrewery Invitational in Seattle Sept. 15-17.

There are three categories: ales, lagers and specialty brews. Small batches of the winners will be produced by Portland Brewing and offered at selected Puget Sound pubs.

Entry fee is $14, with additional entries $2 each. For information, call Northwest Brewers Supply Company at 1-800-728-ALES.

, DataTimes MEMO: On Tap is a monthly feature of IN Food. Rick Bonino welcomes reader questions and comments about beer. Write to: On Tap, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call 459-5446; fax 459-5098.