East End Brewing Wheat Fest 2013 Coming 6/8

Now don’t give me any of that "I just don’t like Wheat Beers" nonsense. Because in reality, the flavor of wheat is really pretty subtle, and hard to pick out. And besides, a typical wheat beer… does not exist.

Yes, I said it. There is really no such thing as a TYPICAL wheat beer! Any more than there is a typical barley beer. The way it works is like this: We brewers use different varieties of Malted Wheat much the same way we use different varieties of Malted Barley – and we use them both to make a wide variety of beers spanning a broad range of flavors.

Some are fruity, some are spicy, some are sweet, some are dry, some are hoppy, some are tart, some are light, some are dark, some are low in alcohol, and some are strong…and some probably fit into another 10 or 20 categories that I haven’t mentioned here. And we’re about to help you find a bunch of these types of Wheat Beer flavors all in one place, during something we’ve been calling Wheat Fest.

Some of these 5 beers are new, some are old standbys, some are already on tap now, and some will make their way to the taps before June 8th. But they’ll ALL be on tap at once for WheatFest, and staying on until they run out! Here’s the lineup at the brewery (Growler Shop will have a slightly shorter list):

East End Witte – Our Spring Seasonal, brewed with a bit more oats this year. We’ve also made the spicing more delicate, and included some fresh lemongrass to our standard corriander and orange peel spice additions. I’ve personally been all over this one now that the warmer weather is here.

Wheat Hop – One of our Session Beer Series that we like to revisit around this time of year… Think IPA, but with a wheat beer base, and at Session Beer strength. Fruity, but it’s all about the hops as there’s no fruit added. Just 4.3%, and built just perfectly for lawnmowing.

Monkey Boy – Our German-style Hefeweizen, with a distinctive banana aroma that comes from the hefe yeast we use to ferment it. Year round availability, and a mainstay of our GOOD BEER Fans.

Monkey Girl – Our sister beer to Monkey Boy, also fermented with the same hefe yeast, this is a Dunkelweizen. So it’s got a little more malt sweetness, a hint of roast, and a bit more color. It also has a little less alcohol than it’s brother.

Monkey’s Uncle – The third beer in what I suppose is turning out to be our Monkey Beer Series. It’s got all the ester characteristics of the "Boy" and the "Girl" stuffed into a great big 10.5% ABV package. If you’re a barleywine fan, you’ll love this one. And in fact, some might call it a Wheatwine (As it drinks like a Barleywine) but technically it’s a Weizenbock since it’s fermented with this same hefeweizen yeast strain. In bottled form, it ages well. So you can cellar this beer for a while, given its higher abv. But I’ve never managed to keep mine for more than a year or so.

A note on this last beer: We will have draft Monkey’sUncle available at WheatFest, and HOPEFULLY bottles as well. But this all depends on how the bottle conditioning goes. More as the date approaches!
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