Pyramid Hefeweizen

I am actually starting to like Fridays more and more… I am very lucky.  I had zero meetings today.  Zip.  Zero.  Zilch.  I was actually able to stay on top of email and get A LOT of stuff done.  This may be the first time in at least a couple of years and by god if it didn’t feel good.  I am going to have to start making it a habit, I tell you. 

So… I worked in Bellevue at Lincoln Square from about 7am to 2:30 and then decided to beat the traffic and get closer to home and work a bit more… so I ended up at a wonderful little afternoon happy hour again at Sockey’s in Monroe.  Sockey’s first came up on my review of Skagit River “Steelie” Brown Ale.  While that beer was middle of the road, Pyramid Hefeweizen definitely is not.  I was super surprised to see that we actually hadn’t blogged about it yet, so here it is.

For me, this is one of their signature beers.  I think it rates right up there with Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen in that it is a pure, clean, wonderful hefe that really beats the heat on a hot summer’s day and whisks away the worries of a long week.  I had a couple over the course of a couple of hours and boy am I glad.  Very tasty and it may just have to be what I drink when I go there… although they have a few others that may be worth reviewing.

JBB6 Rating: For the Win

FireStation5 Fire Hydrant Hefeweisen

I’m back… a long drive and some slightly difficult kids later and we arived back in WA today at about 2:00 pm.  We had a pretty good stay at the Best Western in La Grande, OR.  Nice rooms, nice pool, good breakfast, right off the highway… highly recommended.

So, we have been unpacking for a while and I am ready for a cold one… I look in the fridge and there it is… the second beer from FireStation5 that I purchased before the trip.  FireStation5 Fire Hydrant Hefeweisen stares me in the eye and gives me that “drink me” look, so I open it up and pour it into a standard pint glass.

First things first… this doesn’t look like hefeweizen.  It just doesn’t have the right color, no head even with a straight-to-the-bottom pour, and it sure doesn’t look unfiltered… much to my dismay, of course.  Well, I know you can’t judge a book by its cover, but I think you can judge a beer by its pour and color… really.  This beer was much more bitter than it should have been, it wasn’t fruity in the least, and it didn’t hold a good aftertaste at all. 

First beer from Firestation was the Firestation Blonde and it didn’t rate well… hoping the full line isn’t of the same caliber… will keep trying and let you know.

JBB6 Rating: Just Not Right

Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen

Henry Weinhard’s has to produce some of the best low cost beer I have every laid lips on… and I have laid lips on a lot of brews as you can tell by this blog.  I generally go with the Private Reserve, but I have been enjoying the Hefeweizen genre of beer more and more lately, so I decided to go that route instead.

Good choice.  The folks at the Henry Weinhard’s brewery really know what they are doing.  While not as full flavored as some of the others we have blogged about, there is not beating the value for the money.  Good, clean hefe with just enough lightness and fruitiness to remind you why you like it so much. 

While you are at their website, check out their screen savers (Downloads > Pour Screen Saver)… there is one that is just a glass of beer with a nice bubbling golden ale and head and it really makes me happy every time I see it at work…

One more thing… make sure you check out their heritage… very cool.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Screen saver:

Beer:

Widmer Hefeweizen

A beautiful Tuesday evening with a bit of snow on the ground and a late dinner.  Today was a fine beer day.  Two different work sponsored events with beer as the beverages makes Dug a happy boy…

Lunch = Beer and pizza

Dinner = Beer and apps and then dinner

I missed the trifecta… next time the moons align like this I will have to make sure I have beer with breakfast somehow, as well.

The beer of choice tonight was Widmer Hefeweizen.  I think I am turning into a Hefe fan… This is the second one I have had that I would highly recommend.  Although that Pyramid Hefe has to still be #1 in my book.  Still, Widmer did a fine job and I think they are less expensive, too…

**UPDATE** I just had Pyramid’s Hefeweizen and realized in looking up Widmers that this was so early as to not have a rating… that is a poor shame since it needs to be on the For the Win list for sure.  May even need to go in the Hall of Fame, but I need to discuss with Po first.  So here you go:

JBB6 Rating: For the Win

Beer and pour together:

Hitachino Nest Beer: Weizen

Saturday! Even better than Friday night, sometimes, especially if the rain’s lashing down outside (surprise!), the fire’s raging in the hearth, and there’s a bit of a Japan-fest going on in your house. Youngest son has developed a strange obesession for repeat watchings of Kingu Kongu no gyakushu, and everything else from the Land of the Rising Sun. To develop his education a little further, I think a trip to Uwajimaya is in order.

An hour later and weighed down with bags of strange candy, spicy baby octopus, a pack of raw sea urchin and enough sushi and sashimi to feed a small army, I come across the beer fridge. Intriguing! There’s a lot here that’s familiar (the predicatable Sapporo, Kirin, and so on) and a lot that’s not. Basing my choice pretty much solely on the label, I plump for an extortionately priced $9 bottle of Hitachino Nest Beer in Weizen form from the Kiuchi Brewery in Naka-shi, Ibaraki, Japan. Even if I don’t like the contents, the 1 pint 5 oz bottle and the Owl label are pretty darn cool.

A couple hours later, and it seems I do like it - at least a bit. An attractive cloudy golden amber pour develops a head that’s an inch high, but which rapidly fades away to nothing much. Taste-wise it seems to lack a little of the body I wanted, and there’s a yeasty, acidic finish that I’m not really in the mood for today. But it’s refreshing enough, and there’s plenty of the spicy coriander notes and lemony tang that you’d expect to find in a decent hefeweizen.  By the end of the second glass I’m wishing I’d bought more than one bottle, but given the price… I’m not sure I would.

There’s plenty of others in their recipe-book that I’ll be sampling, though, and next time I’m in Japan, I think I’d like to pay them a visit.

 Edit: Now I remember what it reminds me of… Hoegaarden! I wonder if I can find that here in the States…

Pyramid Imperial Hefeweizen

3rd beer of the night, Pyramid Imperial Hefeweizen… a special brew that is as easy to drink as the name implies.  I am generally not a big fan of the hefe’s, but this one is really top notch.  Not too fruity or thick, drinks more like a pilsner.  Very nice.  This is about the 4th time I have bought this beer and it will continue to be a regular in my fridge.

 This beer led me to my second movie of the night, Balls of Fury.  Another crap movie with little redeaming quality.   I feel dumber for having watched it.