Wheat Wine is a beer style born on the U.S. West Coast in the 1980s. It has as its progenitor the English Barely Wine style. A Wheat Wine, generally, is characterized by a massively rich and hearty complexity that is lightened and made a touch sprite through a predominantly wheat rather than barley malt base. It is a style representative of the irreverent creativity and unrelenting passion that are the hallmarks of craft brewing on the West Coast of the United States. Baird West Coast Wheat Wine is crafted in annual homage to the skilled brewing artisans and fearless beer entrepreneurs who have pioneered craft brewing on America’s great West Coast!
This 2009 version of West Coast Wheat Wine is a touch darker than previous due to additions of caramel wheat malt. A lusciously lip-smacking maltiness is complemented beautifully by a fruity West Coast American hop character. Three yeasts (Scottish, English and American) combine in three stages of fermentation to produce a piquancy in the depth of flavor that is most interesting and uncommon. Perhaps still a touch young, West Coast Wheat Wine 2009 promises to condition in the cellar quite well over time.
