Bam! Right backatcha, beervolk! Number 2 of my 4 part Widmer review jam session thang. And THIS brau, buddy, is a solid beer. I wish it were a regular fixture and not a one time (well… one year) release. But sadly, try this lovely red beer in 2008… because come ’09, you can mumble, put on your Sunday best, lie down on the tracks and cry yourself up a song, but all that will do is really… really freak me out. And not get you more of this beer. To re-cap, freak me out yes, more Crimson Wheat no.

T H E B E E R ! . . .

Look at that deep, red color. On the right up there. Big light blue arrow? Yes that one. Nice, thin-ish head if you’ve poured the brew carefully (which I did). That ruddy goodness is the product of three—count-’em-three!—different wheat malts. And why, who the hell could tell us about those malts better than the good folks at Widmer themselves? No one the hell! That’s who (the hell)!

“The three different red, caramelized, and dark wheat malts give this beer an intense red color that runs as deep as the flavor…”

True. Totally true. In true wheat-beer fashion, the hops are pretty relaxed in this beer. A bit of crispness in the light finish, the littlest sharpness creeping through the body. Also in true weizen fashion, the alcohol is only 4.1% by volume. That’s kinda nice. Let’s the good Captain suck back a few of these babies. I recommend this beer more for the Spring or Summer, as it’s refreshing and light, but any time will do, friends. Any time will do.

Good morning, beer readers. The damndest thing happened over the weekend. I had a slight cold—just stuffed up… no cough, no real headaches—but my sense of taste and smell vanished. VANISHED I TELL YOU!!! Now, normally I’m a sensible sort of person. I would never fly off the handle over not even being able to taste a spoonful of paprika and oregano. But when I ate just that (yes, really, exactly that) as a test, I couldn’t taste a thing… and we had just bought a mixed case of Widmer Brothers beers. See that’s why I was all hot n bothered. 4 types of beer… 6 each… can’t even taste oreganprika.

Anyway, the next day my taste was back so Mrs. Beer and I cracked open some braus and went a-tastin’. Today, we’ll discuss the Broken Halo IPA… (it’s the one on the left. That’s why there’s the big red arrow. We’ll get to the one on the right, and a couple other Widmer’s, soon enough, beervolk.)

I’ll be honest… Widmer’s flagship beer? Their Heffeweizen? For some reason I remembered not much liking it and I was biased… holding a grudge… not sure why. I had one last night and it was pretty damn good. But that’s for another day. Just clearing the airwaves. Their IPA? Good IPA. Lovely light amber, honeyish color, as you can see above. The head was small bubbles that diminished rather after a few minutes and sips. The aroma? A bouquet of hoppiness, I sez! They use 3 types of hops in their brew and it is indeed a hop fiesta.

This beer isn’t anything crazy, like, say, Stone’s Ruination IPA, which I had over the weekend and which rendered me a blubbering, sweaty pile of Captain lying in a corner. Rather it’s a very solid example of an IPA with some chops of its own. There’s a more pronounced citrus flavor to this beer than many India Pale Ales boast. A nice maltiness balances out the hops in the taste, though hops remain the dominant flavor in the sip and the finish. A good beer, and a good portent of what’s to come from my fridge from this brewery.