Sundae cherries flavor Sam Adams

Beer Fever with Weaver: Old Hen: as bad as it sounds

Morland Brewing Co.'s Old Speckled Hen?$10.25 for a six-pack at Uncle Tom's I just finished an exam. I handed in a paper yesterday and I have a quiz tomorrow. I also need to figure out what I am doing with my life after Bowdoin, and fast. Maybe I should go to the library or the CPC? I think instead I'll go to Uncle Tom's and revolutionize the way beer critics everywhere write their weekly reviews. I wasn't able to hold my traditional beer-tasting session last night (I told you, it's been a rough week). So instead, I'm going to go make a spontaneous and ill-informed beer purchase and write about my new beer while I try it for the first time. This is going to be ingenious. Then again, this could also suck.

Beer Fever with Weaver: Revisiting trick-or-treating

Gritty McDuff's Halloween Ale?$8.99 for a six-pack at Hannaford By now, it is safe to say that fall is in the air. With peak foliage already past and the amount of popped collars increasing daily (we'll chalk those up to the wind), I can't help but think of days gone by, when visions of inventive costumes and candy-stuffed pillowcases danced greedily through my head.

Beer Fever with Weaver

Sundae cherries flavor Sam Adams

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

Alex Weaver

Columnist

October 6, 2006

Samuel Adams' Cherry Wheat?$8.35 for a six-pack at Uncle Tom's Market

By now, we all know that Uncle Tom's is a little odd. Among the fake arms, '80s sunglasses and tasteful magazines, I was starting to wonder if there was anything in there worthy of writing about. Don't get me wrong. I like electrocuting my friends with fake pieces of gum just as much as the next guy. But seriously, who chews Doublemint these days anyway?

But good things happen to those who wait: I bring to you Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Beer. Again, Uncle Tom had never had this one (shocker), but Sam Adams was telling me that it didn't matter this time. So, I picked up a six-pack of Cherry Wheat, hoping it would make for a satisfying beer and a positive review. Like every week, I tasted my quarry with some of the greatest minds and mouths that Bowdoin has to offer. What I got was the first truly mixed review of the year. People either liked it or hated it, and it was fairly split down the room.

Always up for beer that tastes like food, Eric Gutierrez '07 commented that Cherry Wheat finishes off "like eating the cherry at the bottom of a mixed drink." Conversely, often sweet but sometimes sour, Ted Upton '07 asserted that the cherry taste was far too "artificial" for his refined taste buds. Emma Cooper-Mullin '07?writing her senior thesis on the biochemical compositional dualities between maraschino and natural cherries?drank three-fourths of the bottle before sliding it across the table to me and storming off to the library. Lastly, cute-and-cuddly tough guy Ross Stern '07 noted while clutching his tender breast that "just one sip takes me back to cool summer mornings, frolicking in meadows, and my mom's homemade pies."

Here's what you need to know: Cherry Wheat is a fruit ale that boasts a delectable wheat aroma with a subtle yet unmistakable cherry undertone. Its hue is a smoky amber, its body medium but still light. On the palate, Cherry Wheat hits with a mixture of carbonation and earthy wheat and finishes off smoothly with pure cherry delight. So what's not to love?

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is great for those of you who like the fruity beers (and fellas, don't kid yourselves, you enjoy the Blue Paw just as much as the next girl). Even for those of you who tend not to go in that direction (like myself), the occasional fruit beer can be a pleasant departure from the well-worn path. What is more, Cherry Wheat goes great with food (seriously, these Cheetos taste great right now). It even makes up half of the ingredients for a drink called the "Chocolate Covered Cherry"?Guinness poured over Cherry Wheat (from the tap, of course)?which I hear is fantastic.

The only problem I have with Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is that its cherry flavor reminds one of a maraschino cherry, sweetened in a jar instead of plucked from a tree. This gives the beer's signature flavor an overly sweet and artificial nature?think somewhere between Dimetapp and the top of an ice cream sundae. While I do enjoy a couple casual Cherry Wheat ales, any more than three and I'm wishing I'd had one less scoop.

Suffice to say, Cherry Wheat?like every beer I review (except Bull Ice, which is coming next week)?is not the beer you should be breaking out the Solo cups for. But for those of you looking for something tasty and new, it is sure to offer a pleasant surprise. Besides, no matter how thick the leaves or chilly the breeze, the cherry tree is always right down the road.

Comments are permanently closed.