The best thing I ever drank.......American Wheat

I was watching TV the other night and listening to people talk about the best food they have ever eaten around a particular type of food. I thought this would work perfectly with beer styles and maybe people would even get something out of these as well. We invite you to write your own or provide comments on your favorite beer in the style we are talking about.

I'm starting with the style American Wheat for a couple of reasons. When the weather gets warmer this becomes one of my favorite beer styles. My favorite American Wheat comes from a brewery right here in Indiana.

The American Wheat style is one of the exact reasons why I love American craft beer and brewers. They take a classic style like the German Hefeweizen and put their own stamp on it. American craft brewers really have a knack for pushing the envelope and throwing stylistic guidelines right out the window to create something new and unique. This isn't always a good thing, but I think experimentation is something that makes the current brew scene really amazing.

I still remember the first Gumballhead I had from Three Floyd's. It was on Dark Lord Day in 2007. It was very warm that day and, as I was standing in line waiting for my allotment of bottles, they were selling cups of Gumballhead right there in line. It was blazing hot that year and I was sweating just standing there in line. This was just before they made Gumballhead year round so this was also some of the first of the season. I remember how perfect it was on that day. I wasn't expecting much other than a really refreshing beer on a very hot day. When you put the word "wheat" in a beer I am not really expecting much in terms of blowing my mind or anything, but this was one of those beer moments when I took my first sip and was "wowed" by a beer. To me, Gumballhead marries an IPA, a wheat beer, and a highly sessionable ale into one nice six pack package. A fresh Gumballhead will be very aromatic with big scents of grapefruit, lemon, and other citrus fruit without that huge hop bitterness that is a calling card for FFF's.

This continues to be one of my favorite beers overall, but among American Wheat beers this is my personal favorite and the best of the style I've had.

How about you? What is your favorite American Wheat?

Last of the Gumball Head

From Mike DeWeese:

"Badaboomz Downtown had 2 of the last kegs of Three Floyds Gumball Head delivered today. Get it while it lasts."

KOTBR Review # 19 - Three Floyds Gumballhead

For the latest review, the Knights of the Beer Roundtable convened yet again at Buffalo Wild Wings (soon to morph into BadaBoomz) to try out Three Floyds Gumballhead.

Mike was the first to chime in, claiming himself to be a "Dumballhead" for not sufficiently cleansing his palate before the review:

Although it seemed as if my fellow geeks were very impressed with the Gumballhead, I felt like it was just a fair option, and not a beer I was impressed with enough to give a second chance. Then again, maybe it just doesn't go well with boneless wings. I'd give it 2.5 mugs.

Then I posted my review (complete with advice to Fred Sanford-loving special education teachers), in which I confessed my love for Gumballhead and favorably compared it to Bell's great double IPA, Hopslam:

While not on par with the Hopslam's flavor, Gumballhead's taste is nonetheless formidable. It's sweet on the front of the tongue and dry and bitter on the back. The flavor is heavy on those Amarillo hops, which lends the taste a striking combination of citrus and evergreen. . . . This is a 4.5 mug beer for me; it's certainly one of the best that we've reviewed.

Finally, Jason posted his review, giving us all an excellent overview of wheat beer varieties before giving Gumballhead his seal of approval:

And, if you are in the right frame of mind (as Jim was), you would even swear that you could smell bubble gum. I'm sure that's completely unintentional. In terms of taste, it has a great wheat taste without the wheat aftertaste. There are a number of fruity hints. And a fair amount of hop bite to it without being super bitter. Like Jim, I give this beer a 4.5 mug rating.

Chris was too busy recovering from cavorting with hippies in the Haight to post his review, although he tells us that he will soon post a review of Northern California's finest breweries when time permits.

Time to Weizen Up

There are so many wonderful micro, craft, and imported beers available that it is easy for even the biggest of beer geeks to get confused from time to time. Even though 98% of the beers can be classified as ale or lager, both include a wide variety of beers, creating dozens and dozens of sub-sets. Because of this, it can be difficult to know the difference between a witbier, a hefeweizen, and an American pale wheat ale. And even within the American pale wheat ale sub-sub-category, there is a wide range of options.

Let's take, for example, three APWA's that I have consumed on tap in the past month: Goose Island's 312 Urban Wheat (from a recent trip to Chicago), Bell's Oberon (recently reviewed here), and Three Floyd's Gumballhead. (the subject of our most recent review). Three beers with the same classification, but three beers with completely different identities.

The 312 Urban Wheat is a fine beer that is perfect for better-beer beginners. You ever go to a microbrewery that doesn't serve the big domestic trio (Bud, Miller, Coors) and hear a waiter or bartender say, "You should try our Beer X...it's just like Bud Light". That's what 312 is to Goose Island, in my opinion. It's a very light colored, light bodied beer without any identifiable flavors in it. It's an ale pretending to be a lager. It's at the low end of the APWA spectrum and would probably garner a 2.5 mug rating from me.

Now take Bell's Oberon, which I gave a 4 mug rating to back in April. It is still an easy drinking beer but with more depth and flavors than the 312. It is more complex and has more flavor. An exclusive Big 3 drinker would have to take a bigger step up to get to this beer compared with the 312. It's the sort of beer that this beer geek keeps stocked in his beer fridge and doesn't fear sharing with non-beer geeks.


Which brings me to Gumballhead, the American Pale Wheat Ale from Three Floyd's in Munster, Indiana. I should say right off the bat, I'm no stranger to Gumballhead. But this is the first time I've had it one tap. And we all know that beer on draught and beer in a bottle has different characteristics. It pours with a cloudy, light amber appearance. The beer wasn't over carbonated, which is not surprising from a bar whose manager really knows beers, so the pint didn't pour with a huge head. The aroma was a mix of citrus fruits, juicy and sweet. And, if you are in the right frame of mind (as Jim was), you would even swear that you could smell bubble gum. I'm sure that's completely unintentional. In terms of taste, it has a great wheat taste without the wheat aftertaste. There are a number of fruity hints. And a fair amount of hop bite to it without being super bitter. Like Jim, I give this beer a 4.5 mug rating. Gumballhead is close to being a Hefeweizen, which American Pale Wheat Ales are descended from.

Oh, as for the difference between a witbier, a hefeweizen, and an American pale wheat ale, let me share how I understand them. Witbier is a Belgian Ale that is heavy on wheat and often spiced with coriander, orange peel, or other flavorings. If you moved the Witbier to Germany, removed the added flavorings, you'd have a strong Hefeweizen. Now take the beer to America, use yeasts that don't add the banana and clove flavors found in Hefeweizen, and you have an American Pale Wheat Ale.

Stunning wheat: Three Floyds Gumballhead

I've been told that as you age, your sense of taste tends to diminish. I'm not sure of the validity of this claim, but I do know that as I've gotten older, I have gravitated toward beers with stronger flavors. I suppose that's why I joined the Knights of the Beer Roundtable--to share my love of distinctive-tasting beer with like-minded folks.

So it might not surprise you to learn that American wheat ales normally aren't my thing. It's not that beers falling into this category taste unpleasant to me. In fact, I quite like Bell's Oberon, as I've noted previously. But American wheats are a bit on the mild side for my preference. When I sit down for a pint, I want something that grabs the tongue (in a good way, of course).

So when I learned that our feature beer, Three Floyds Gumballhead, is a wheat beer, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I'd heard that the stuff was loaded with hops, which is atypical for an American wheat. I'd also heard that Gumballhead is awesomely good, but I tried not to let the word on the street among other beer geeks predispose me toward giving a favorable review to this beer.

So to see how Gumballhead truly measures up to the greats of the beer world, I warmed up with the mighty Hopslam from Bell's, which is a KOTBR favorite. To BW3's credit, they had the Hopslam as a cask conditioned beer, so it was served at a warmer temperature. This enhanced the already heavenly flavor of the beer even more. I eagerly await Bell's release of the next batch of this outstanding ale.

Then it was on to the Gumballhead. This wheat beer poured fairly clearly with a color that was between straw and amber. When the server brought my pint to the table, the beer had just the faintest remnant of a head. Gumballhead is made with Amarillo hops, which gave the beer a boat-load of character. The nose on this beer is unbelievable. On first sniff, I got smacked in the face with a lovely citrus overload. Upon a second sniff, I smelled, interestingly enough, bubble-gum. I wondered whether the name of the beer was coloring my perception of the beer's aroma (the beer is actually named for a bizarre comic character), but a third sniff confirmed the bubble-gum smell. I pictured the Dubble Bubble that, as a kid, I found in my candy bag on Halloween after a good night of trick-or-treating.

While not on par with the Hopslam's flavor, Gumballhead's taste is nonetheless formidable. It's sweet on the front of the tongue and dry and bitter on the back. The flavor is heavy on those Amarillo hops, which lends the taste a striking combination of citrus and evergreen. As weird as this may sound, Gumballhead's flavor made me think of what a Douglas fir might taste like if it were soaked in lemon and grapefruit juice. That might come across as an unpleasant image, but it's not meant to be negative as Gumballhead's flavor was excellent.

This is a 4.5 mug beer for me; it's certainly one of the best that we've reviewed.

One last note--I have to give our server a thumbs-up for the Fred Sanford t-shirt she was wearing:


She also wanted to pass on a tip about this piece of apparel--if you happen to teach special education, don't wear it to class.

I also wish to give a huge thumbs up to Buffalo Wild Wings for their outstanding beer menu. I'm looking forward to visiting the establishment when it soon becomes BadaBoomz.

I'm a Dumballhead

Back in the days when I was just reading this blog instead of writing for it, I decided that Bell's Hopslam was worth my hard earned money. I based this decision on the stellar reviews written by those who were to become my co-Knights. But a funny thing happened when I got the Hopslam home; I hated it.

That experience has stuck with me, and as a result I try to be as conservative as possible when reviewing a beer. The highest score I've given a beer to date was 4 mugs (Brugge's Quadripple). I gave Bell's Oberon 3.5 mugs, even though it's my first choice when I'm in the liquor store.

So I think it's only right to say that last night's tasting was tainted by 10 or so of BW's mild boneless wings. Although I figured that mild wings would be weak enough that I could shake their taste, I was sadly mistaken. I suppose that rule one of reviewing beer would be to not ruin your pallet... and I failed right off the bat. Please keep that in mind as you read further into this review.

I started the night with a Hopslam (I'm coming around on Hoppy Beers, actually) and the wings, and then moved on to Three Floyd's Gumballhead, our chosen beer. It was hard to decifer the nose on this beer, but I did pick up a distinct hop odor that was strong enough to cut through my runny nose issues. The beer also had a very hoppy front, which might have been shocking had I not warmed up with the Hopslam. The beer was golden and transparent in color, not unlike most standard American beers. I felt that the back end and aftertaste of the beer was almost watery, but that may have been due to the boneless wing precursor. I wasn't very far into the glass before I started belching up the flowery taste of hops.

Although it seemed as if my fellow geeks were very impressed with the Gumballhead, I felt like it was just a fair option, and not a beer I was impressed with enough to give a second chance. Then again, maybe it just doesn't go well with boneless wings. I'd give it 2.5 mugs.

"Change of venue"

That's fancy lawyer talk for moving the proceedings to a different court. And that's what we've decided to do tonight. Originally, we intended to do tonight's roundtable at the new BARcelona Tapas restaurant, but our beer sources tell us that the beer menu will not be complete. So, we discussed going to Chumley's in Broad Ripple considering that they have 50 beers on tap. But we did an about-face yet again when we got word that the downtown Buffalo Wild Wings is blowing out pints of microbrews at the bargain-basement rate of $3.00 a pint before the restaurant goes into its cocoon for a little while before emerging anew as BadaBoomz.

Therefore, we'll be reviewing Three Floyd's Gumballhead at the downtown Buffalo Wild Wings on Maryland Street. That's where we did our last review, but we're all about sound economical choices. As always, feel free to join us. As always, we'll begin our proceedings at 8:00 p.m. with a warm-up beer.