Sunday Night Suds - Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds beer review looks at Uinta's Hazel Amber Wheat Ale.

[As a quick programming note, I hope i'yh to post this Purim's Updated Kosher Beers List on Tuesday as a freestanding post. The format will be through scribd and will contain many beers which were not on the Labor Day list.]

Many breweries have been experimenting with cross-over brews which involve collaborations between brewmasters and restaurant chefs who are looking to infuse with the brew with certain flavors which will complement their dishes. One of the Heineken Man's friends tipped me off to a fascinating article which ran in the Chicago Tribune (aka "The Trib") last month about certain Midwest area collaborations. I have provided a link to the article here here, but there is no guarantee as to how long the article will be available for reading on the "the trib" website.

Unlike some of the more well intentioned (or perhaps just intentional) hybrid or cross-over beers, you sometimes come across a brew which tastes like it has been mixed from two different foods but the flavors just don't seem to work together. That brings us to the Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale.

The Hazel Amber Wheat Ale is an American Dark Wheat Ale which does not seem to fit the category ascribed to it by the folks at BA. The brew was not cloudy and did not have a significant amount of foam. The alcohol content was on the extreme low end (4% abv) and the "hint of coriander" promised on the Uinta website was nowhere to be found. Indeed, the one flavor that I kept tasting was Lipton Tea - just not a combination I am looking to have with an ale (or any beer for that matter).

Given the significant number of quality Uinta brews that I have sampled over the last year (see review of Anniversary Barleywine -here , Wyld -here and Baba Black Lager -here) I guess that at some point I was destined to get one from Uinta that swings and misses. Luckily for me, it came in a mix box, so I only have three more to drink or give away...

Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union and bears an OU on the label. For the experts' take on the Uinta Hazel Amber Wheat Ale please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/76114.

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).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!