Honey Brown and the Wheat Sisters

Summertime seems to bring with it a raft of fruity, wheat beers and in general I’m not a huge fan, but I’ll admit that they can be refreshing, especially if you live in the land of the perpetual sunburn. So, here I’ve tried an old standby along with a couple of the fruited up wheat beers.

Dundee Honey Brown is common fare in some parts, or so I’m told. I recall having tried it some time back and when I stumbled across a six-pack at the local store recently I figured I’d give it another go. It smells a bit sour in the bottle but gives off a distinct honey scent in the class, pouring a dark bronze color with high carbonation and a thick head that quickly vanishes. There is no knock-you-down honey in the taste of this except in the finish, which is nice and it continues to maintain a nice honey smell even after the head is gone. I used a splash or two of Dundee Honey Brown over a piece of salmon on the grill and it turned out nicely. I’ll be having this one again I believe – it’s a honey.

I spied a bottle of Kennebunkport Apricot Wheat in the singles rack at Trader Joe’s. I snagged it along with five other beer orphans in need of a good home. This apricot wheat beer smells very strongly of apricot both in the bottle and in the glass. It pours slightly thick but with no obvious sediment and has a medicinal taste that hints at cough syrup. This beer is all about the apricot and despite the medicine taste, I like it quite a bit; it’s very good and very refreshing. Perhaps something to be had in moderation.

The Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat is something I’d first heard about during a visit to the Yardhouse down the road. Our waitress explained that this one tastes like Fruity Pebbles cereal. I didn’t try it that day, but made a mental note that cereal-flavored beer has got to be on my to-do list. So, more recently I had the kids grab a six-pack of Sunset Wheat at the Total Wine store in Glendale. (I’ve sung the praises of Total Wine in the past and I still love their selection and their prices but I must state for the record that their face-to-face customer service is completely lacking. Perhaps one day when they push me too far, I’ll post a more detailed explanation but suffice it to say: Total Wine? Love your store. Your staff? Not so much.)

This one has a definite citrus smell in the bottle – it’s almost medicinal, but it becomes more pleasant once poured. Pours yellow-gold and cloudy and certainly does have a Fruity Pebble taste, though I’ll admit I’m probably not perceptive enough to have made that connection without the tip from our friendly Yardhouse waitress friend. There’s a bit more citrus taste when an orange slice is added – of course. Late in the sampling the medicinal hints return but isn’t too off-putting. Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat is a nice enough novelty beer for the summer, but I doubt I’ll seek it out again before the summer season is ended.

What others had to say about Honey Brown and the Wheat sisters...

Honey Brown
If you’re going to New York City and want to find Dundee’s Honey Brown, the folks at Beer Menus can help you. (Personally, I try to do most of my drinking at home, but what the heck.)

Here’s a little post concerning the declining honey bee population and Dundee’s efforts to help: Sustainable is good.

Apricot Wheat
The bloggers at Just Beer recently posted a useful review of Kennebunkport Apricot Wheat. (“Beer info. from normal dudes…” I like that.)

The judging panel at Beer Advocate has not been kind to Kennebunkport Apricot Wheat.

Sunset Wheat
Here’s the dope on Sunset Wheat from Beer Advocate.

The Roughneck at Lagerheads waxes eloquent about his experience with Sunset Wheat back in 2006.

(Mr. Beer brewing update: We convened a meeting of the bathtub brewing council and decided to let the red ale percolate in the Mr. Beer keg for a few more days - perhaps up to the three week mark, which will be next Sunday. I've not checked in on the little project in the last day or two, but a sample taste tonight is probably in order.)