Available March – August, it is Bell’s summer answer to winter’s Bright White. Oberon is Bell’s one of the O.G.s of American wheat ales. It has a hint of clove to it, but isn’t overly spiced like many winter seasonal beers are.Īverage Untapped Rating: 3.60 (on a scale of 5) with 18k ratings.

Bell’s Bright White aptly fills the witbier void during the colder months. Wheat beers are my favorite style and I drink them all year long. I was super excited when Bell’s came out with the Winter White, now called Bright White, which is available November – January. Many breweries make wheat beers seasonally in the summer and they disappear off store shelves and draft lists as soon as pumpkin-flavored-everything and Christmas ales are released. To establish our baseline, Allagash White has an Untappd rating of 3.76 (on a scale of 5). Best American Witbier Alternatives to Allagash White Cruise the International aisle of your local beer provider to check those out.

Belgium, the creator of this style, offers many amazing witbiers as well. Liberties must be taken.Īlso worth noting: these recommendations are all American craft beers. The wheat beer style isn’t at IPA craft brewery status – meaning the pool of candidates of witbiers is much smaller. While they may not technically be witbiers, I am adding them to this list as they skew more towards a witbier than the banana-y taste of wheat hefeweizens. Some of these beers classify themselves as American Wheat Ales or White Ales rather than witbiers. So, I make it my personal mission to find great witbier alternatives. However, my beloved Allagash White isn’t available in Ohio. The beer I bring back by the case in my car trunk whenever possible. The first beer I seek on vacations or traveling through an airport in a distribution area. It is truly the fist beer I fell in love with. That brings us back to the gold standard (white standard?) of American witbier, the Allagash White. While Blue Moon will do in a witbier emergency, there are plenty of other American witbiers with amazing (read: better) taste. Freshly ground, and added late to the kettle to retain its aroma, it should fairly gush from the glass.Įver had a Blue Moon? It’s an example of a “mass-produced craft” witbier. The predominant spice is always coriander. Of equal importance in a witbier is the use of spices. The effect of the raw wheat and oats on the palate is a silky-smooth mouthfeel, a playful tart and honeyish contrast, and noticeable fruitiness. Sometimes, a small amount of raw oats is added. There are two requirements of this style: first, it must contain up to 50 percent wheat. But don’t just take our word for it: The beer recently took home the gold medal at the 2019 GABF in the “Gluten-Free Beer” style category.What then, defines a witbier? These are dubbed white beers, and not wheat beers, because of the pale, almost milky glow of the brew.

The Boombastic IPA is one such beer in their wide portfolio, creating that perfectly juicy flavor profile with tropical fruit notes and rich flavors that are so good, the fact that this is made without traditional ingredients becomes an afterthought. This led her to found Holidaily Brewing, the only commercial scale, dedicated gluten-free brewing facility in Colorado, where innovative techniques and ingredients have led to the creation of some of the most inspired options of their kind in the country. But when she was blindsided by a diagnosis of melanoma and thyroid cancer and forced to drop gluten from her diet as part of her treatment plan, she quickly realized that settling for the current GF options on the market simply wouldn’t do. Karen Hertz has always had a passion for beer.

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