If you want a great summer beer you can’t go wrong with a wheat beer. One of the lightest, most refreshing, and maybe tastiest of these is the Belgian Witbier. The white beer style, once popular in various forms all over Europe, nearly died out. The last witbier brewery in Belgium had closed in the 1950s. That changed when Pierre Celis opened the Hoegaarden Brewery in the 1980s and singlehandedly revived this almost lost beer. Now several breweries both in Europe and the United States brew the style.
Witbiers are brewed with a large percentage of unmalted wheat, giving them a fresh cracker and white bread malt flavor and a cloudy appearance. The starch haze is accentuated by yeast that stays suspended in the beer, adding fruity and spicy notes. The real character of a wit comes from the additional flavoring ingredients. The traditional ones are bitter orange peel and coriander, but enterprising brewers have used other spices like chamomile and lavender.
Zōn (Flemish for “sun”) is Boulevard Brewing Company’s summer seasonal interpretation of the style. Here’s my notes:
Zōn
Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Missouri
Style: Belgian Witbier
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle
Aroma: White bread and yeast. Banana and clove character of a German hefeweizen with subtle orange and citrus character. Very light coriander floral way in the background.
Appearance: Light straw-colored and cloudy. Fluffy white head that was moderately persistent.
Flavor: The flavor very much follows the aroma. Bready wheat malt with banana, clove, and yeast flavors rounding it out. Nice orange and lemon citrus notes with only the slightest hint of flowery coriander. Low bitterness. The dry finish lingers lightly on wheat and citrus. Light and refreshing.
Mouthfeel: Light body, but with the mouth-filling richness that wheat and suspended yeast bring to a beer. Spritzy carbonation.
Overall Impression: This is a solid representation of the witbier style. Light and refreshing, it invites another bottle. I like that the coriander character remains subtle, allowing the yeast and orange flavors to shine. I had this with dinner and it brilliantly complemented my garlic scape and asparagus pasta with white wine butter sauce. Really a great pairing.