Spiced Wheat brings the heat

Beer Fever with Weaver: Alex Weaver's cures for beer fever

Beer Fever has the flu. Now, I'm not talking a runny nose and a little muscle ache here. This is the kind of flu where I'm dripping sweat walking through a snowstorm in a T-shirt and absolutely freezing on the third floor of the library.

Beer Fever with Weaver: Reliable beers in unstable weather

J.W. Dundee's Amber Lager and Honey Brown Lager?$4.99 each at Hannaford Growing up in Maine, I have become accustomed to weather that often proves more mercurial than a two-year-old left at home with the babysitter. One second he's humming "Yankee Doodle Dandy," and the next he's screaming bloody murder. So it is, we have seen, with the weather, as we have all just experienced the first Bowdoin College snow day since Woodstock?and the first in April since that Safe Ride down to 'Shua's was pulled by a team of horses.

Beer Fever with Weaver

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

Alex Weaver

Columnist

March 30, 2007

Spring Heat Spiced Wheat?$8.35 for a six-pack at Hannaford

The T-shirts, flip-flops, and (best of all) skirts are coming out. Despite the drastic increase of frostbitten toe cases at the health center, I fully endorse this conscious forcing of Mother Nature's hand?as ridiculous as it may seem in the early stages of post-Spring Break in Brunswick, Maine. My logic, however, requires a little explanation. Normally, life doesn't reward conscious preparedness. Throw some change in your pocket in the morning to make life a little easier, and everything you buy will undoubtedly come out to perfect dollar increments.

Then there's schoolwork. We all budget two hours for reading that should have taken two days and inevitably struggle through the least important material and pay for it in class. Why, just the other day, I was staring down the barrel of a two hundred page English reading assignment and the night was not getting any younger. What did I do? I stayed up all night reading the selections from the various books and decided to skip the five-page section that needed printing (my printer has been broken since freshman year). Like clockwork, I arrived in class the next day to find that the day's discussion would be based on the one miniscule task I thought could be put off. Life, it would seem, cannot be so easily outsmarted.

Even if the weather is the same way?after all, that wind that's making the Bowdoin Pines sway like tiger lillies isn't exactly tropical?I think it's important for the post-Spring Break psyche to pretend like it's getting warmer outside even when your hot chocolate still freezes before getting to your next class. Just as the clothes you wear will help usher in the new spring season, so will the beer you drink. As long as the sun is up when you are, I say throw on your madras flip-flops, NASCAR cut-offs, and miniskirts, and party like it's the Fourth of July with the help of a delectable limited edition seasonal brew from the good people over at Anheuser-Busch: Spring Heat Spiced Wheat.

I chose this beer for four reasons. First of all, the name rhymes and Beer Fever with Weaver appreciates that. Secondly, I have never tried it, let alone heard of it, and any beer dubbed "Spring Heat," which could also double either as a new "Miami Vice" miniseries or the current mating condition of your golden retriever, is one that I am willing to try. Thirdly, Spring Heat lends itself perfectly to the spring motif that I came up with while listening to a lovely Wagner opera about a seductive spellbound witch and a foolish young hero destined for unbounded greatness.

Finally, like Pumpkinhead or Christmas Ale, the label of Spring Heat is one that cannot be overlooked. Whether the guy's head is an orange wearing a crown or a sun with a mohawk made of straw, what really matters is that his sunglasses speak of sunnier times and he has a foamy brew in his upraised hand. So just as this little cheery orange man seemed to be offering me a glass in the supermarket, I now offer one to you. May the sun shine down on you for drinking it.

Spring Heat is an American wheat ale brewed with orange, lemon and lime peels, and a hint of oleander. It pours a hazy golden hue and boasts a thick creamy head and moderate carbonation. Its aroma is one of overwhelming citrus, which foreshadows the ale's tangy taste. On the palate, Spring Heat feels like a fruit basket exploding in your mouth. While the wheat could be a little more prominent, I would say that the best characteristic of this beer is its smoothness. Its alcohol by volume (ABV) is fairly standard at 5.2%, but since it goes down the shoot more like Tropicana than Anheuser-Busch, its drinkability is favorable to say the least. If you like Allagash White or Blue Moon, then this beer will undoubtedly sit well with you. While not as likely to be on tap, a six-pack is a solid individual investment that will leave you feeling festive and fruity (and if Ted is any indication, this is a combination that everyone should be looking for on a Saturday night).

So I applaud all you females who are wearing skirts with winter coats and the fellas dressing like they're constantly coming back from the gym despite the arctic wind coming straight off the frozen North Atlantic. But just remember, while your closet gets upgraded for spring, so too can your beer. As the weather grows warmer, don't forget that it's OK to leave your old go-to beer back in the Dark Ages. Don't forget: Sun's out? Guns out. Spring Heat? Spiced Wheat!

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