Sunday Night Suds - Lakefront White Beer

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Lakefront Brewery's White Beer.

I picked up this beer during the summer during a stop at the fantastic (yet slightly out of the way) beer Mecca known as Beverage World. Although I had stopped in at Beverage World because of its vast selection of Redhook, I found that they also had a nice variety of Lakefront. The good folks at Beverage World had no problem with me mixing a sixer of Lakefront, so I tossed in a few of the Lakefront White.

Before getting to the beer, I need to underscore the value of a beer store which allows you to mix six packs. Besides being a sign that the establishment is customer friendly, it also an indicator that the store has decent traffic. Generally, if a store will not allow a person to buy a single beer or to mix a six pack, it means that they are afraid that they will not be able to move the rest of the six pack because they have little traffic. On the other hand, if they do allow you to buy less than a whole six pack of a certain variety, it is a sign that they are confident that they will be able to move the rest of the product as well.

[In fairness, most stores do mark up the bottle by 1/5 if you buy it as a single, but its worth it for me as it allows me to try many beers without buying a six pack of each kind].

The Lakefront White Beer is classified by the experts at Beer Advocate as a Witbier, which they define as:

A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due to it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other oddball spices or herbs in the back ground. The crispness and slight twang comes from the wheat and the lively level of carbonation. This is one style that many brewers in the US have taken a liking to and have done a very good job of staying to style. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one. Often referred to as "white beers" (witbieren) due to the cloudiness / yeast in suspension.

The Lakefront White Beer had a strong coriander flavor and although slightly dry, did have a fair amount of citrusy flavor. I enjoyed this beer on my own and would have a difficult time trying to pair this with food. Maybe, if I was into fancy cheese I could try to match this up with some French/Swiss specialty cheese, but since I prefer mine melted over pasta you will need to find some other source to make the food pairing suggestion.

Lakefront Brewery White Beer is under the kosher supervision of the Star-K (there is even a Star-K on the label).

For the experts' take on the White Beer please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/3458. As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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