Inside My Table #85 | Excerpt
Summer Beer
By Mike Riccetti
Even though it hails from the cooler climes of Germany and Flanders, wheat beer is ideal for quenching the thirst brought on by Houston summers. Assertively yellow and hazy under a bright white head, and served with a slice of lemon, this kind of beer is made with 50 to 60 percent wheat, with barley malt making up the rest of the grain. The result is a tart and slightly sweet beer that tastes great during our fierce summers and suits the spicy food that we enjoy so much here in Houston. Tending to have more feminine appeal than do most beers, wheat beers are also a bit more alcoholic.
The only thing challenging about these beers is their tongue-twisting names. The south German Weizenbiers (“wheat beers”) have a fruity taste, sometimes with notes of apples, bananas and cloves, and are the most imitated wheat beers worldwide. Variations include Kristall, Hefe, Dunkel and the rare, strong Weizenbock. The Kristall versions are filtered and probably the easiest to enjoy. The most popular and generally the most distinctively flavorful are the Hefeweizens, which are unfiltered; suspended yeast gives them their cloudy appearance. Appealing mostly to serious beer lovers, the heavier Dunkels (“dark”) are usually a rich amber or brown.
The most exotic wheat beers are from Belgium — Witbiers or Bières Blanche (“white beers” in Flemish and French) — which are brewed with unmalted wheat plus orange peel and coriander.
The third major style is the light and sour Berliner Weisse, which is rarely found outside of Berlin.
My favorite locally available wheat beers are: the delicate Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissen; the amazingly savory and balanced Ayinger Brau Weiss; Celis White’s Belgian progenitor, Hoegaarden White; the popular Paulaner Hefe Weizen; Franziskaner Hefe- Weissbier, which is on the dry side; the tangy Hacker Pschorr Hefe-Weizen; and the heavier and complex Schneider Weiss.
All of those should be available at Spec’s and Central Market. Most will be available at The Ginger Man (5607 Morningside), and nearly as many at the Flying Saucer (705 Main). I believe that a good number are served at the Richmond Arms (5920 Richmond), too. Most local multi-tap bars will have a couple of these beers, at least in bottles.
