“That’s a bit Wheaty”
Oddly, more often than not, the beer that the punter is tasting contains no wheat at all. Usually the flavour they’re trying to identify is something other than a grain—it is a yeast flavour. Beers like Three Boys Wheat, Tuatara Hefe and Hoegaarden Witbier have popularised the yeast-focused flavour of Witbiers and Weissbiers—styles of wheat beer.
The majority of a wheat beer’s flavour comes from the compounds created by the yeast during fermentation. These can taste like anything from bananas to clove, and have crazy names like Isoamyl Acetate. Remove the yeast flavour from a wheat beer and the flavour can be as clean as a pilsner, even though it may feature 50% or more wheat malt.
To showcase just what yeast contributes to a beer, the local brewing badasses Yeastie Boys decided to do a little experiment, dubbed ‘Yeastherder’. They released two beers—‘Europa’ and ‘Rapture’—named after Blondie songs in true Yeastie style.
Europa and Rapture are exactly the same beer, except for one aspect: the yeast. Europa features a German Helles yeast which ferments cleanly—meaning it creates very little flavours. Rapture features the same Belgian yeast strain used in the famous Chimay beers, and as such, adds a huge yeast character to the beer.
Europa (4.2%) might best be described as a summer golden ale due to its crisp dry body and zesty hop flavour. Europa is a simple beer, but not detrimentally so. Its crisp flavour and simplicity make it a rewarding beer to sip on those rare, sunny Wellington days.
Rapture (4.5%), on the other hand, is something a bit different. Yeast is the main show here, with a big aroma of cloves that are followed up with even more in the flavour. Rapture brings the big character of the Chimay yeast, but in a much smaller package than usual.
The yeastherders have already been gracing taps and handpumps at beer bars throughout Wellington, but there’s still some left so keep an eye out and get amongst this brilliant piece of beer geekery.
The Yeastie Boys donated the proceeds from online sales of Rapture and Europa to the Christchurch relief fund, one of many gestures of kindness from the beer industry. Mad props to them all.
If you have any questions about this week’s beers or any comments, please contact me at davethebeerguy@gmail.com or tweet at me @davethebeerguy