Undistributed beer of the week: Weissenhopper

There can only be one undistributed beer of the week. The competition is fierce in San Diego’s beer community, but someone has to take the title. This week’s best undistributed beer is....

Bagby Brewing: Weissenhopper

Style: German-style Hoppy Weisse

ABV: 6.4%

Pair with: Duck nachos or Gouda cheese with rye crackers

The Weissenhopper is a true-to-form, traditional German-style Weisse beer, with a tasty bite of American hops. The “hoppiness” does not overpower the soft mouth-feel and biscuit flavor of the Weisse, but instead adds carbonation and makes for a refreshing, moderately-hoppy brew.

This beer comes to us from Bagby Brewing Company’s Jeff Bagby and his brewing assistant Brandon Barclay. They had been interested in hoppy Weisse-style beers for a long time and wanted to take a stab at the style on their own.

The decision to brew Weissenhopper came when a batch of Bagby and Barclay’s traditional, German-style Weiss beer had finished fermenting. They had plenty of their traditional Weiss to go around, so they decided to take a risk and make a hoppier version of their recipe. The Weisenhopper is made with German grown hops and American Cascade hops. The duo added the hops in at the end of the brewing process to cultivate a stronger aroma and flavor, evident even in the nose.

Bagby says that the beer, which is fifty-percent wheat malt and two-row barley malt, was not dry hopped, but still has a pretty decent hop aroma to it. Bagby admits that he didn’t know if people would understand or like this combination, but his risk was well worth it. The name is pretty self-explanatory: the awesome intersection of Weisse-meets-hops melded together to create this extremely drinkable brew.

Bagby Beer Company, 601 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. bagbybeer.com

Source: DiscoverSD