Hefeweizen Time: Unshadowed by Ale Asylum

A few days ago when I ripped a page from my Cat-A-Day desk calendar and noticed that it was now August, I thought to myself what most people in the Northern Hemisphere were thinking that day: summer's really going by quickly. While the autumnal equinox swiftly approaches, there is still plenty of time for those days when simply walking outside leads to profuse swearing and the near instantaneous creation of a thin layer of sweat around one's entire epidermis. This being the case, I still have plenty of seasonally appropriate beers in my refrigerator.

At some point last year, I think it was, I came to the conclusion that New Glarus' Kid Kölsch and Bubbler from Next Door Brewing should form the core of my Aestival Beer Arsenal™. They are both lighter beers with some grainy taste complemented by a dash of hops and dab of fruitiness. A pilsner of some kind is also usually available. And this year I have been keeping Weißbier on hand more often than in summers past.

Looking at this blog's archive, it seems that I have never posted a review of a beer by Madison's Ale Asylum. They have the dubious distinction of brewing the beer that bears most of the responsibility for me becoming sick and tired of very hoppy beers. Their pale ale Hopalicious was everywhere and I drank it frequently. Eventually its hoppiness wore me out and I stopped drinking it which led me to abandon American pale ales altogether.

While Ale Asylum brews more than hoppy pale ales, they brew a lot of those. It seems like there's a new one out every month that can only be distinguished from its predecessor by the order in which hops are listed on the label. One month Citra comes first and the next it's Mosaic or Sultana. But once you dig past all of the beers that try to kill you with hops, you find some stalwarts that are more friendly to those of us with grain-loving palates. I've always enjoyed their malt forward brews like Madtown Nutbrown and Contorter Porter, though I honestly don't know if they are still brewed. Another non-pale ale which seems appropriate with more oppressive heat looming is Hatha-Weizen, er, Unshadowed, a Hefeweizen.

This was actually the first beer served at Ale Asylum back in the day and was originally called Hatha-Weizen in honor of co-proprietor Otto Dilba's wife, Hathaway, who apparently is a fan of the style. It was only available to those who checked themselves into the Ale Asylum taproom until 2014 when it was re-christened Unshadowed and put into bottles for the first time.

It's easy to see why someone invented the Weißbier glass: you get a ginormous, thick, white head when you pour Hefeweizen and you need the appropriate containment system. The foam atop my beer was pretty rigid and it barely moved when I tilted the glass. The liquid was a hazy lemon color and it featured lots of bubbles. This was volatile stuff as I could smell the beer even when my glass was several inches away from my nose. The aroma featured a big, bright lemon scent along with the style's usual banana and bubble gum. Oh, and there was wheat too.

I found that it had a light body with wheat and zippy citrus/lemon flavors at the fore. Those archetypal Hefeweizen yeast flavors of banana and bubble gum sat underneath. With all of those bubbles, I was not surprised at the beer's firm fizziness. The carbonation and that lemon tartness lent an astringent edge to beer that was greater than I am used to in the style. On the finish, the yeasty fruit and gum flavors faded to reveal lingering wheat and lemon tastes which were joined by some spicy/herbal hoppiness. Those hops and the tartness made for a pretty dry ending.

My glass was left with some very fine lacing.

In contrast to the last Hefeweizen I indulged in, Unshadowed is lighter with an emphasis on the lemony tartness that relegated the banana and bubble gum flavors from the yeast to supporting roles. This stuff has an acidic bite that is stronger than I've ever tasted in a Hatha-, er, Hefeweizen. Despite this deviation from the norm, Unshadowed is a great brew and a perfect fit for the sultry days of a Wisconsin August.

Junk food pairing: Pair Unshadowed with a bag of Andy Capp's Cheddar Fries. Let the beer wash away the salty, starchy goodness of the fries. Repeat.