Years ago, when I first started becoming interested in beer, I accidentally stumbled across Allagash White. It honestly had a radical effect on me. I'd never tasted a beer like it and it made me properly manic about trying everything I could get my hands on and accelerating my passion for beer styles. To this day, Allagash White is almost always in my fridge. Polished off a 4 pack with the wife 2 days ago.
Coronado's Orange Wit, Avery's White Rascal...so many great American wits on tap in all kind of bars, weird even our craft bars in the UK don't have a wit on draft
Born and raised proud Mainer here! Allagash got me into craft beer. Could only get used to Coors Lite thinking all beers were like crappy American big brewerys and this beer flipped me upside down. So awesome that my state is home to an excellent brewery and a real trailblazer. Thank you Rob Tod for an absolute gem of a witbeir!
So glad you featured Allagash in this video. I know many stories of how they started and I've had personal experiences with their upper management that always result in the conclusion that they are top notch people doing great work that goes beyond just brewing really good beer. When we travel to that area stopping by their facility is always a highlight.
Speaking of which Jonny, The Netherlands had and still has a Dutch Caribbean island outpost which is famous for its oranges called Curaçao. The preferred orange peel for witbier is also 'curacao orange peel'. Maybe this could help in your research.
Also from Maine is a hidden gem, White Tide Belgian White from Rising Tide Brewery, not far from Acadia Nat’l Park. I hope you get to try it one day, pairs quite well with a lobster roll looking looking at the waves crashing on the rocky shoreline.
Really enjoy learning about the history of the different styles in the "What even is a...?" series. I'd always just dismissed Wit as Weiss (a style that I don't mind, but not one I'd actively go out and buy regularly), so thanks for the education! Might have to try and track down an Allagash White now...
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I'm watching it now and in the first 2 minutes I recognize Bob and stopped to make this comment. My wife and I did only 1 tour of Allagash during a cold winter and it was just us and Bob. It's the only brewery tour that my wife really enjoyed. Bob was great. We keep looking for him when we visit and try to give him beers we take with us on our travels. It's so funny he's in your video.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel video idea - an in-depth video explaining wit vs weiss beers and the different styles within them...I have watched a lot of your vids and I don't remember one on that
How fitting, I just ordered the St. Bernardus Wit with my most recent beer order :) looking forward to drinking this style again as I have been neglecting it amidst the whole "modern" styles... Cheers
As a naive northeastern American, I’ve often thought Wit was a more universally popular style, seeing Allagash (and even the cheaper Blue Moon and Shock Top) and its many local inspirations in every bar around. The style will never be the fruitiest, hoppiest, or most bitter brew, but its drinkable balance seems to attract drinkers of all palates and experience levels around here. It will never be a hype style, nor will it be a cheap college crusher, but I am still surprised by its apparent scarcity elsewhere. I hope it continues to grow, because it’s a style that really brightens a scene, both literally and figuratively.
I went to Allagash on a birthday Portland trip. We were chatting with the tour guide and my friend mentioned it was my birthday. Back in the taproom, they came up with a 6pk of White to-go and said "happy birthday!" Not only that, but I went to pay for our pours and the bartender said, "you're the birthday guy right? don't worry about it!" Allagash is filled with some of the friendliest people I've ever run into
This has been my confusion since I started watching this channel. Growing up on the west coast of the USA Blue Moon and Shock Top while owned by the Macro-breweries were at every stadium sporting event. As craft breweries grew in Arizona, wit/wheat beers have been a common summer beer style. Up in Seattle my personal best brewery in the world Holy Mountain makes a Wit year round. So to find out that the style is considered uncommon doesn't register with me. If anything I would've thought that it goes Pilsner, Pale Ale, Wit/Wheat, and IPA for most popular beer style by sales internationally. We all learn something new every day I guess.
Seeing Jonny and Brad trying to pronounce Dutch/Flemish words like 'gruit' never fails in bringing a smile to my face. But the origin of the name 'witbier' is unfortunately lost to history. Keep up these style-related historical videos!
After watching you guys geek out over this beer so many times I was pleasantly surprised to find it finally in Australia and it definitely doesn't disappoint!
Glad Duration got mentioned, their wit is lovely and they've brewed other fringe styles like grisette which was excellent. We need you to visit when travel is allowed!
When you guys pass by in Belgium again, you should look for Bellegem's Wit (or try to order it). That's a really classy white by Bockor. Easiest to find in the region of West-Flanders (Ostend, Brugge, Kortrijk, etc.). And witbier is Dutch and means white beer, just like the German Weissbier. However, the real difference is indeed the traditions. In Germany you do have the Reinheitsgebot (purity or cleanliness rules) which dictate what is allowed in beers and to which quantities etc., but this doesn't apply outside of Germany. That's why you'll find that the experimentation with spices and such is far more important in other other regions, and this also adds to the flavour difference. However, for brewing witbier having a decent water supply is key, and the quality and kind of water also has an important impact on the flavour.
Such an underrated style, glad that you chaps are giving it some love! I remember Deya did a vanilla wit a few years back and since then I have brewed a wit a few times at home with a small addition of vanilla - one of my favourite homebrews. It helps boost the creaminess that you refer to in this video, but remember to keep it subtle to prevent it from becoming a pastry-wit!
I quite like the St Bernardus Tokyo brew which, as they describe it, sort of straddles the line between wit and saison. Now I've got to try their traditional wit and find some Allagash somewhere!
Hey guys, I have a question for you. My last trip to England was back in the 1990's and I was very disappointed in the beer. At the time the British beer that I tried was served a little cooler than room temperature and had very little CO2. From watching your awesome videos, that seems to have changed. So the question is: What has changed? Apparently a lot, but please do share.
Gents, have you tried Queer Brewing's Witbier? It's inspired by the Allagash you've tried and Cloudwater had both the Allagash folks and Lily from Queer Brewing on their live tasting session - they'd sneakily sent some QB Witbier to Allagash to try and they loved it. I love it, it's a really great example of the style and should become regularly available in the UK (currently available through CW's store).
We have indeed, and we're good friends with Lily! Hoping it takes off an becomes available in lots of different places - it's about time we had a great British wit!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel absolutely! I've got a couple arriving in time for next week's alleged mini heatwave. Lily was an absolute highlight on Cloudwater Wednesdays, and I was delighted to discover that their beers are bloody great too.
Nice job with this topic. I think it's their yeast that sets it apart. Some local versions made around me a quite good, but still are not quite same. I like they have it available in cans now.
Really interesting vid tonight. I've only got to experience this beer once and absolutely loved it. It's so different! Looking forward to hopefully finding it again!
Coriander (i.e., Cilantro gone to seed) "believe it or not, can grow in Southern Europe..." & ~all of US & most of Canada, & really any place with at least a 35-45 day growing season. ;) It's a short season annual, & just about grows itself. I can usually get 3 crops here in upstate New York (~200mi NW of NYC).
If you like Wit beers, you need to try the Amsterdam beer from the brewery Brouwer Ij, Ij Wit, easily the best beer I have ever tasted around the world.
Spicy wheat ale with refreshing flavours derived from fermentation and addition of coriander and orange peel. Notable for using unmalted wheat for 50%. 4,5-5.5% ABV, low IBU, straw to light gold SMR! cheeeeeers
Last year I made a wit with coriander grown in my garden here in the UK. Coriander is native to Southern Europe but has been grown in Britain (and most likely Belgium as well) since the bronze age so not as exotic as it's often perceived. I'd be surprised if it hadn't found it's way into the fermented malt beverages of northern Europe even earlier than the 14th century. Then again hops are also native to Europe and they took a while to catch on...
@Chathura Asanga Kulasinghe i know la trappe blanche but its so much less tasty in my opinion,less sweet but somewhat onedimensional! Also the St Bernardus Wit is no match for the grimbergen, i like my wits a little on the sweet side as citrusy flavours really go well with sweetness!
funny that in german the same style is either called hefe-weizen (yeast-wheat) and hefeweiss bier (yeast-white beer). It tells you all that you need to know about the still, a very pale colored beer brewed using wheat with yeast forward aromas.
Love the historical snippets to these older styles, double dry hopped pale ales and new England’s IPA’s are a minor wedge in the history of beer. I wonder if you guys could do an online only collaboration with someone like Randy Mosher?
this is the style that got me into craft beer. I know Hoegaarden is a mediocre macro witbier but that was the first non macro-lager I ever drank and made me realize theres other styles of beer out there that can be good.
Spain controlled the area of what is now broadly Belgium from the mid 16th century until the early 18th century, so I would imagine that's why they used (and were able to use) orange peel and coriander in the beer there.
I'd say that in Israel ,Witbier is definitely more popular than an IPA with the non craft folk. In every bar or pub you will usually find at least one of the following: Hoegaarden, Blanche du Bruxelles, Blue Moon, 1664 Blanc and my favorite - St. Bernardus Wit.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I think it's due to the warm climate, Israeli people mostly enjoy low abv wheat beer and lagers. The craft scene is pretty new (first microbrewery opened in 2005) but we made great strides. Most of the local examples are of the Bavarian style though. The only example that comes to mind is 'Taybeh White', a Palestinian beer.
Think you all can do one of these for Bock? I don't think Bock gets enough love. Also Black IPA! I miss that trend! These days it's hard to find though(O'Conor Brewery in Virginia is the only place I know that still makes it)
Allagash white restored my faith in American beers 😅😅 but it's not my fave Witbier. You have a lot of *cheap* Witbiers in France (Bière blanche) and Belgium. Src: i literally tried them out weeks ago. Absolute Heaven.
@@TheDoosh79 Allagash is currently on the CLoudwater webstore, St Bernardus wit and Blanche De Bruxelles is on Beer Merchants.com. I'd start there - or see if Quiet Song by Duration is still available.
Actually I did a bit of research after watching the video, it's unclear where the wit in witbier originates from. Wit still means white but witbier may originate from weitbier. Weit is old Dutch for wheat, not used nowadays but still present in the modern day word "boekweit" meaning buckwheat. So Brad may have been onto something.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel For the Prussian and Belgian beers white comes from wind dried. Wind dried grains would have been significantly lighter and less smoky than malted grains of the time. I suppose when malting improved and they could make malted grains as light as wind dried they moved to using wheat to keeping wit a different type of beer.
I recently completed a book on the history of Pierre Celis and Witbier. My book discusses The history of the style which dates back to the 1300s, all the way up to present day. Focusing specifically on Pierre in Hoegaarden up to when he moved to Austin, Texas and reopened his brewery. and the brewery today run by his daughter Christine You mention that Witbier was prominent until around the mid 1800s, and then disappeared until the 1960s, when Pierre brought it back. In fact, witbier never died out. It was reduced in volume by the beginning of World War I, and after World War I, but a couple places were brewing two other sub- styles near Hoegaarden. Hoegaarden’s Witbier stopped 1957 with the closing of the Tomsin brewery (where Pierre worked as a teenager). Pierre brought back the Hoegaarden wit in 1966, and it in fact became wildly popular. It was not swallowed up by macros. On the contrary, it spread throughout Belgium, and Europe. When Pierre sold his brewery to InBev in 1990, Pierre move to Texas and opened up the Celis brewery there. He started to brew his Witbier again, calling it Celis white this time. It was Celis White that Rob Todd from Allagash Brewing fell in love with, not Pierre’s witbier when he was in Hoegaarden. I have an entire appendix chapter at the end of the goes into great detail about the three main versions of the style. With a focus on the Hoegaarden wit. I did it like the episode overall. You’re not wrong about hoppy beers and sour styles being very trendy at the moment. I wonder what your thoughts are on what in the United States we referred to as pastry stouts
Hey Jeremy thanks for all the extra info. We didn't mean to imply it completely died oout - only that it did for everyone not in that village! Also, I'd very much consider being bought by AB InBev in 1990 being swallowed by macros! As for Pastry Stouts we've talked lots about them on the channel - a long time ago we did this video: ruclips.net/video/EFUaBedCyEI/видео.html. Bit out of date now but still fun.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel When Pierre sold the remainder of his shares in 1990, it was a little more complicated than being swallowed by a macro though. He had borrowed money from Stella Artois to help rebuild after the fire in 1985. Stella then merged with inter-brew, who became InBev. They made things so miserable for Pierre after a time, that he sold his remaining shares even though he had majority control just to get out from under a bad situation. Nice episode on the pastry stouts, still holds up!
I find brewers are too heavy handed with the orange and coriander. I didn't really like this style until I tasted it without these additions. The flavour from the yeast is amazing. In my opinion it doesn't need any of that stuff.
Well it's certainly true that those additions come from a time when they were as much about masking off flavours from the yeast and complementing them but I still love those ingredients in beer. Which brewers are making wit-style beers without the traditional peels and spice?
As a New Englander it tickles me that the video on what is witbier is using Allagash White for the title card. Especially from the perspective of two Brits 😂
@@TheCraftBeerChannel same here! It's a great example of the style. You guys were spot on with pointing out it's popularity in New England next to things like Boston Lager.
A good wit can be great, but bad wits almost ruin the style for me. The best I have tried so far (haven't gotten my hands on Allagash White yet), was the Wild Wit from La Sirene's Avant Garde Collection in Australia.
Not only was the Netherland's one of the great trading ports of the time, they were also ruled by the Spanish. Therefore Spanish grown products would have been the norm as the ruling minority would have wanted their home comforts in between trying to put down various rebellions and religious uprisings
Has Hoegaarden really gone down in quality? I drink Hoegaarden classic & Hoegaarden Grand Cru, & Hoegaarden Speciale in Belgium for last 10 years & they are all amazing beers. However, i have seen it sold in pubs on draught in UK in pints which is madness to me (as in Belgium it's never served in pints). So maybe it's just the quality has gone down for its export markets? or UK pubs don't serve it so well (uncleaned pipes etc)
Dudes! No mention of Peter Celis? If it wasn't for him, there'd be no Belgian Witbier as the style almost went extinct. He also introduced it into the USA. The orange peel that's supposed to be traditionally used is Curaçao orange which originates in the Carribean island of the same name (which was a former Dutch colony). There's a history of it here if you're interested: ruclips.net/video/M6vZPUBRyLE/видео.html
Thanks for pointing out this glaring oversight. Allagash was definitely inspired and learned about wit beer from Pierre. Celis White is still our flagship brew and you can get it in the Austin/Central Texas area. The orange peels we use actually come from Hati these days. Viva la Wit!
German Weißbier has to follow the "Reinheitsgebot" a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer, and cannot add specimens to it or otherwise they can't call it officially beer, (that is for all beer in Germany, btw).
This isn't quite true. You can still call it beer, but you can't claim it is brewed to the Reinheitsgebot tradition, which is a big selling point in Germany among certain demographics. Craft brewers and drinkers don't tend to care though! Interestingly the reinheitsgebot also only allowed wheat because the king of Bavaria happened to own breweries making them.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I looked up in the good old wiki, and you have 2 paragraphs about it , I'm quit confused: paragraph 1>> In response to the growth of craft breweries globally, some commentators, German brewers, and even German politicians have argued that the has slowed Germany's adoption of beer trends popular in the rest of the world, such as Belgian lambics and American craft styles. In late 2015, Bavarian brewers voted in favor of a revision to the beer laws to allow other natural ingredients. paragraph 2 >>> The law's applicability was further limited by a court ruling in 2005, which allowed the sale of beer with different ingredients as long as it was not labeled "beer". The law thus became a labeling standard.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel So looked it up a 2nd time this time in the German wiki; It says Imported Beer can be called Beer but Germans need to ask for a permission to call it special beer. Dudes I'm just saying, but this absolutely is an interesting topic for yr RUclips Channel.
So in today's New England style dominated world most IPAs have wheat in as well as most clean sours. But if you want beers that really show off wheat character then Hophand Fallacy by Lost and Grounded, Quiet Song by Duration, Pressure Drop Wugang Chops the Tree... I'll keep thinking of more!
Haha well we didn't make it clear enough it seems, but it means white...and then in brewing it still means white but always indicates the use of wheat.
The boys "Weiss means white in German" Wit means white in Flemish/Dutch too, didn't scroll through all the comments, someone pointed may have pointed this out already.
Yes but the BJCP guidelines say a lot of things and is far from gospel! I'd expect almost all German Hefes are 50% or more, but internationally not sure sure that's the case.
I stumbled randomly upon the Celis brewery in Austin, Texas and was fascinated by their history: the creator of Hoegaarden had a fire in his warehouse and was forced to sell the name to AB Inbev due to lacking cash to rebuild it, but then moved from Belgium to Texas to make his version of the fantastic Wit beer that is the original Hoegaarden. Celis White is a really good beer and I'd recommend everyone try it if they can find it. I'm not even American, I'm just working in Austin for a few weeks and I just found Celis on google maps and it looked like my kind of place. Fantastic discovery and made me love beer even more after. After this I had to check if you had a video on Wits and sure enough you do, really interesting history!
Years ago, when I first started becoming interested in beer, I accidentally stumbled across Allagash White. It honestly had a radical effect on me. I'd never tasted a beer like it and it made me properly manic about trying everything I could get my hands on and accelerating my passion for beer styles. To this day, Allagash White is almost always in my fridge. Polished off a 4 pack with the wife 2 days ago.
That's what it's best for - demolition a four pack or four pint at a time!
How does it compare to the standard witbeer Hoegaarden ?
I love Witbiers! One of the first beers I ever tried was a Hoegaarden at my local pub, that memory! Great video guys :)
Coronado's Orange Wit, Avery's White Rascal...so many great American wits on tap in all kind of bars, weird even our craft bars in the UK don't have a wit on draft
Alternating between this and a Guinness draught is a great way to spend an afternoon.
Born and raised proud Mainer here! Allagash got me into craft beer. Could only get used to Coors Lite thinking all beers were like crappy American big brewerys and this beer flipped me upside down. So awesome that my state is home to an excellent brewery and a real trailblazer. Thank you Rob Tod for an absolute gem of a witbeir!
So glad you featured Allagash in this video. I know many stories of how they started and I've had personal experiences with their upper management that always result in the conclusion that they are top notch people doing great work that goes beyond just brewing really good beer. When we travel to that area stopping by their facility is always a highlight.
Speaking of which Jonny, The Netherlands had and still has a Dutch Caribbean island outpost which is famous for its oranges called Curaçao. The preferred orange peel for witbier is also 'curacao orange peel'. Maybe this could help in your research.
Also from Maine is a hidden gem, White Tide Belgian White from Rising Tide Brewery, not far from Acadia Nat’l Park. I hope you get to try it one day, pairs quite well with a lobster roll looking looking at the waves crashing on the rocky shoreline.
Really enjoy learning about the history of the different styles in the "What even is a...?" series. I'd always just dismissed Wit as Weiss (a style that I don't mind, but not one I'd actively go out and buy regularly), so thanks for the education! Might have to try and track down an Allagash White now...
It's such a beautiful beer. The most pintable beer outside pilsner!
The story of how the owner sold the Allagash White in the early days is really interesting. He's an amazing guy.
@@NinjaMonkeyPrime Indeed! did you see our feature on them? ruclips.net/video/1gwNtXCR7jY/видео.html
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I'm watching it now and in the first 2 minutes I recognize Bob and stopped to make this comment. My wife and I did only 1 tour of Allagash during a cold winter and it was just us and Bob. It's the only brewery tour that my wife really enjoyed. Bob was great. We keep looking for him when we visit and try to give him beers we take with us on our travels. It's so funny he's in your video.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel video idea - an in-depth video explaining wit vs weiss beers and the different styles within them...I have watched a lot of your vids and I don't remember one on that
How fitting, I just ordered the St. Bernardus Wit with my most recent beer order :) looking forward to drinking this style again as I have been neglecting it amidst the whole "modern" styles... Cheers
Glad you guys enjoy allagash so much. Allagash white was there at the start of our craft beer revolution in the states.
As a naive northeastern American, I’ve often thought Wit was a more universally popular style, seeing Allagash (and even the cheaper Blue Moon and Shock Top) and its many local inspirations in every bar around. The style will never be the fruitiest, hoppiest, or most bitter brew, but its drinkable balance seems to attract drinkers of all palates and experience levels around here. It will never be a hype style, nor will it be a cheap college crusher, but I am still surprised by its apparent scarcity elsewhere. I hope it continues to grow, because it’s a style that really brightens a scene, both literally and figuratively.
I went to Allagash on a birthday Portland trip. We were chatting with the tour guide and my friend mentioned it was my birthday. Back in the taproom, they came up with a 6pk of White to-go and said "happy birthday!" Not only that, but I went to pay for our pours and the bartender said, "you're the birthday guy right? don't worry about it!"
Allagash is filled with some of the friendliest people I've ever run into
This has been my confusion since I started watching this channel. Growing up on the west coast of the USA Blue Moon and Shock Top while owned by the Macro-breweries were at every stadium sporting event. As craft breweries grew in Arizona, wit/wheat beers have been a common summer beer style. Up in Seattle my personal best brewery in the world Holy Mountain makes a Wit year round. So to find out that the style is considered uncommon doesn't register with me. If anything I would've thought that it goes Pilsner, Pale Ale, Wit/Wheat, and IPA for most popular beer style by sales internationally. We all learn something new every day I guess.
Seeing Jonny and Brad trying to pronounce Dutch/Flemish words like 'gruit' never fails in bringing a smile to my face. But the origin of the name 'witbier' is unfortunately lost to history. Keep up these style-related historical videos!
Wit (pronounced 'vit') = white.
As my friend always orders Allagash White at the bar/pub, he'd love this clip!
Allagash white is a classic! Very enjoyable!
After watching you guys geek out over this beer so many times I was pleasantly surprised to find it finally in Australia and it definitely doesn't disappoint!
Glad Duration got mentioned, their wit is lovely and they've brewed other fringe styles like grisette which was excellent. We need you to visit when travel is allowed!
When you guys pass by in Belgium again, you should look for Bellegem's Wit (or try to order it). That's a really classy white by Bockor. Easiest to find in the region of West-Flanders (Ostend, Brugge, Kortrijk, etc.). And witbier is Dutch and means white beer, just like the German Weissbier. However, the real difference is indeed the traditions. In Germany you do have the Reinheitsgebot (purity or cleanliness rules) which dictate what is allowed in beers and to which quantities etc., but this doesn't apply outside of Germany. That's why you'll find that the experimentation with spices and such is far more important in other other regions, and this also adds to the flavour difference. However, for brewing witbier having a decent water supply is key, and the quality and kind of water also has an important impact on the flavour.
Thanks for clearing Up The Wit Beer 🍺 question 😜⁉️. Tucson Arizona Desert 🏜️
Allagash is definitely beloved by many over here in the States.
Loved kronenburg blanche, but they (carlsberg I believe) stopped bringing it in to the UK many yrs ago...
Good lord I had forgotten that beer! Cant have sold very well.
Such an underrated style, glad that you chaps are giving it some love! I remember Deya did a vanilla wit a few years back and since then I have brewed a wit a few times at home with a small addition of vanilla - one of my favourite homebrews. It helps boost the creaminess that you refer to in this video, but remember to keep it subtle to prevent it from becoming a pastry-wit!
Oh lord, the idea of a pastry wit... this is a style for smashing by the pint on a summers day!
Allagash White is a standard/classic , that I never get tired of.
Belgian Witbiers are my favorite beer in the world. I can't find any in Colombia 😢
I haven't had one in over 4 years.
One of my absolute favorite beers, there is one in my fridge at all times
I quite like the St Bernardus Tokyo brew which, as they describe it, sort of straddles the line between wit and saison. Now I've got to try their traditional wit and find some Allagash somewhere!
Avery's White Rascal deserves an honorable mention. Allagash certainly rocks.
Hoegaarden is back on track tasting good drinking wiecksie witte on my sub beer machine its dutch and just superb.
Hey guys, I have a question for you. My last trip to England was back in the 1990's and I was very disappointed in the beer. At the time the British beer that I tried was served a little cooler than room temperature and had very little CO2. From watching your awesome videos, that seems to have changed. So the question is: What has changed? Apparently a lot, but please do share.
Gents, have you tried Queer Brewing's Witbier? It's inspired by the Allagash you've tried and Cloudwater had both the Allagash folks and Lily from Queer Brewing on their live tasting session - they'd sneakily sent some QB Witbier to Allagash to try and they loved it. I love it, it's a really great example of the style and should become regularly available in the UK (currently available through CW's store).
We have indeed, and we're good friends with Lily! Hoping it takes off an becomes available in lots of different places - it's about time we had a great British wit!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel absolutely! I've got a couple arriving in time for next week's alleged mini heatwave. Lily was an absolute highlight on Cloudwater Wednesdays, and I was delighted to discover that their beers are bloody great too.
Nice job with this topic. I think it's their yeast that sets it apart. Some local versions made around me a quite good, but still are not quite same. I like they have it available in cans now.
Really interesting vid tonight. I've only got to experience this beer once and absolutely loved it. It's so different! Looking forward to hopefully finding it again!
Coriander (i.e., Cilantro gone to seed) "believe it or not, can grow in Southern Europe..." & ~all of US & most of Canada, & really any place with at least a 35-45 day growing season. ;) It's a short season annual, & just about grows itself. I can usually get 3 crops here in upstate New York (~200mi NW of NYC).
If you like Wit beers, you need to try the Amsterdam beer from the brewery Brouwer Ij, Ij Wit, easily the best beer I have ever tasted around the world.
Spicy wheat ale with refreshing flavours derived from fermentation and addition of coriander and orange peel. Notable for using unmalted wheat for 50%. 4,5-5.5% ABV, low IBU, straw to light gold SMR! cheeeeeers
Always stayed away from white beer, but thinking bout picking up some alegesh white now
DO IT! And tell us what you think!
Great stuff lads. I'm learning so much!
Last year I made a wit with coriander grown in my garden here in the UK. Coriander is native to Southern Europe but has been grown in Britain (and most likely Belgium as well) since the bronze age so not as exotic as it's often perceived. I'd be surprised if it hadn't found it's way into the fermented malt beverages of northern Europe even earlier than the 14th century. Then again hops are also native to Europe and they took a while to catch on...
Is that right?! Well I might have to grow some to make a farmhouse wit homebrew!
I lived by this brewery when I lived in Freeport, ME.
Einstok do a FANTASTIC white beer 👌
I haven't had it in many many years but used to enjoy it
@@TheCraftBeerChannel aye, it's super clean. Can really tell the quality of the water!
Sadly I live in the Canadian province right next door from where its made, yet we can't get the beer here.
I really like Witbeer and I'd kill to get hold of some Allagash over here in germany -.-
My favorite is Grimbergen Blanche Wit,it was one of the first "non Lager Style Beers" i got my hands on.
@Chathura Asanga Kulasinghe i know la trappe blanche but its so much less tasty in my opinion,less sweet but somewhat onedimensional! Also the St Bernardus Wit is no match for the grimbergen, i like my wits a little on the sweet side as citrusy flavours really go well with sweetness!
funny that in german the same style is either called hefe-weizen (yeast-wheat) and hefeweiss bier (yeast-white beer). It tells you all that you need to know about the still, a very pale colored beer brewed using wheat with yeast forward aromas.
nice review of this wonderful beer! Did you visit Hill Farmstead on your New England trip? just wondering...haven't seen a video on it
We did! But we didn't film aside from a small scene of geeking for the documentary
Thanks for an excellent video. I wish I could buy some Allagash White in Sweden (or brew it myself)
If you guys ever come to Stockholm you are welcome to my brewpub. Just give me a shout. 🍺😊
Also Wit beer leans more towards adjunct wheat and the bavarian wheat beer more to the use of wheat malt.
Love the historical snippets to these older styles, double dry hopped pale ales and new England’s IPA’s are a minor wedge in the history of beer. I wonder if you guys could do an online only collaboration with someone like Randy Mosher?
We've never met or spoken to Randy but we would love to. His book Tasting Beer is seminal! Maybe one day we'll work together.
Maltmiller has an in-house clone of Allagash white. Did you consider doing a comparison video?
Well this is an AMAZING idea for a video...we'll look into it!
Good stuff gang - cheers
Awesome!! Added this witbier to my untapped list 🤟🏼 additional question? When are the CBC glasses again in stock? Keep IT up 🍻
Currently sold out but will be back on beermerchants.com soon!
this is the style that got me into craft beer. I know Hoegaarden is a mediocre macro witbier but that was the first non macro-lager I ever drank and made me realize theres other styles of beer out there that can be good.
I like a good gruit, I am lucky to be able to find some here in france. any good ones in the uk?
There are a few made by Harbour Brewing's wild ale brewery and weirdly cloudwater made an unhopped lager recently!
The orange peel (peel of Curaçao Oranges) could come from Curaçao to the Netherlands (Curaçao being a colony from 1815 to 1954). Just a tought.
Yes perhaps it happened a little later - great spot
For several episodes, I’ve been trying to figure out what type of appliance the Smeg is on the wall, in the background???
Haha, it's a heater with fake flames!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Cheers!
Spain controlled the area of what is now broadly Belgium from the mid 16th century until the early 18th century, so I would imagine that's why they used (and were able to use) orange peel and coriander in the beer there.
BOOM. That is why I love RUclips comments.
I'd say that in Israel ,Witbier is definitely more popular than an IPA with the non craft folk. In every bar or pub you will usually find at least one of the following: Hoegaarden, Blanche du Bruxelles, Blue Moon, 1664 Blanc and my favorite - St. Bernardus Wit.
Wow that's fascinating! I wonder why it has become so popular there. Are there any local examples?
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I think it's due to the warm climate, Israeli people mostly enjoy low abv wheat beer and lagers. The craft scene is pretty new (first microbrewery opened in 2005) but we made great strides. Most of the local examples are of the Bavarian style though. The only example that comes to mind is 'Taybeh White', a Palestinian beer.
Think you all can do one of these for Bock? I don't think Bock gets enough love. Also Black IPA! I miss that trend! These days it's hard to find though(O'Conor Brewery in Virginia is the only place I know that still makes it)
We should definitely do a Bock episode. And Black IPA is coming back I tell you!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Dude, don't jest! My heartstrings cannot handle false hopes!
What's the Smeg product up on the wall? A safe, a heater???
A heater!
Allagash white restored my faith in American beers 😅😅 but it's not my fave Witbier. You have a lot of *cheap* Witbiers in France (Bière blanche) and Belgium.
Src: i literally tried them out weeks ago. Absolute Heaven.
Love that piss take Black Sabbath top that Brad's wearing
How can we buy those cool glasses?
Unfortunately they are sold out right now but we are making more! Will update EVERYWHERE when they come back.
Is Allagash White readily available in the UK?
Sadly not but Cloudwater have some on their webshop at the moment
Alagash was the first beer to make me enjoy beer.
Is there a fairly available beer that uses gruit that you would recommend?
Afraid not really! where are you based? I might be able to think of one.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel haha its okay im in south korea.
great style, should have mentioned Celis and his story who practically brought it to US
… and basically brought it back from the dead.
Can you get Allagash in the UK fairly easily?
Sadly not, though there is a little bit here at the moment.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Cloudwater still have some left as of 17:57 on 20.1.21
@@TheCraftBeerChannel can you please send me a link
@@TheCraftBeerChannel So in your opinion what is readily available in the UK on the Wit/Wheat beer front worth trying?
@@TheDoosh79 Allagash is currently on the CLoudwater webstore, St Bernardus wit and Blanche De Bruxelles is on Beer Merchants.com. I'd start there - or see if Quiet Song by Duration is still available.
before hoegaarden, it was celis white which was saved by pierre celis when he moved to US from belgium............cheers beer geeks....
Wit means white, not wheat. Wheat in Dutch is tarwe.
Indeed! I corrected Brad when he said it! But a brewing/beer naming context the use of white does mean the use of wheat.
Actually I did a bit of research after watching the video, it's unclear where the wit in witbier originates from. Wit still means white but witbier may originate from weitbier. Weit is old Dutch for wheat, not used nowadays but still present in the modern day word "boekweit" meaning buckwheat. So Brad may have been onto something.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel For the Prussian and Belgian beers white comes from wind dried. Wind dried grains would have been significantly lighter and less smoky than malted grains of the time. I suppose when malting improved and they could make malted grains as light as wind dried they moved to using wheat to keeping wit a different type of beer.
Wit comes from weit, like we say boekweit for buckwheat. So it’s not about the color white. Wit = weit = wheat.
@@UninvitedGuest-i9v Good lord. This is why I love RUclips comments. What a journey! Thanks for the info all!
I recently completed a book on the history of Pierre Celis and Witbier. My book discusses The history of the style which dates back to the 1300s, all the way up to present day. Focusing specifically on Pierre in Hoegaarden up to when he moved to Austin, Texas and reopened his brewery. and the brewery today run by his daughter Christine
You mention that Witbier was prominent until around the mid 1800s, and then disappeared until the 1960s, when Pierre brought it back.
In fact, witbier never died out. It was reduced in volume by the beginning of World War I, and after World War I, but a couple places were brewing two other sub- styles near Hoegaarden. Hoegaarden’s Witbier stopped 1957 with the closing of the Tomsin brewery (where Pierre worked as a teenager).
Pierre brought back the Hoegaarden wit in 1966, and it in fact became wildly popular. It was not swallowed up by macros. On the contrary, it spread throughout Belgium, and Europe.
When Pierre sold his brewery to InBev in 1990, Pierre move to Texas and opened up the Celis brewery there. He started to brew his Witbier again, calling it Celis white this time. It was Celis White that Rob Todd from Allagash Brewing fell in love with, not Pierre’s witbier when he was in Hoegaarden.
I have an entire appendix chapter at the end of the goes into great detail about the three main versions of the style. With a focus on the Hoegaarden wit.
I did it like the episode overall. You’re not wrong about hoppy beers and sour styles being very trendy at the moment. I wonder what your thoughts are on what in the United States we referred to as pastry stouts
Hey Jeremy thanks for all the extra info. We didn't mean to imply it completely died oout - only that it did for everyone not in that village! Also, I'd very much consider being bought by AB InBev in 1990 being swallowed by macros!
As for Pastry Stouts we've talked lots about them on the channel - a long time ago we did this video: ruclips.net/video/EFUaBedCyEI/видео.html. Bit out of date now but still fun.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel When Pierre sold the remainder of his shares in 1990, it was a little more complicated than being swallowed by a macro though. He had borrowed money from Stella Artois to help rebuild after the fire in 1985. Stella then merged with inter-brew, who became InBev. They made things so miserable for Pierre after a time, that he sold his remaining shares even though he had majority control just to get out from under a bad situation.
Nice episode on the pastry stouts, still holds up!
Corona is overrated (which, i think we all agree on that), witbier with a slice of lemon is the best summer drink
I find brewers are too heavy handed with the orange and coriander. I didn't really like this style until I tasted it without these additions. The flavour from the yeast is amazing. In my opinion it doesn't need any of that stuff.
Well it's certainly true that those additions come from a time when they were as much about masking off flavours from the yeast and complementing them but I still love those ingredients in beer. Which brewers are making wit-style beers without the traditional peels and spice?
Allagash White is similar to Lupulus Blanche, which is quite good! Have you tried that one?
As a New Englander it tickles me that the video on what is witbier is using Allagash White for the title card. Especially from the perspective of two Brits 😂
Haha it is true but it is our favourite wit!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel same here! It's a great example of the style. You guys were spot on with pointing out it's popularity in New England next to things like Boston Lager.
Do you know a place in the UK where you can buy Allagash beer?
Cloudwater
A shipment came over recently so try your local bottleshops or potentially the cloudwater online shop still (they brought it over)
House of trembling madness had some.
Does anyone know how or where to get Allagash White in Germany?
A good wit can be great, but bad wits almost ruin the style for me.
The best I have tried so far (haven't gotten my hands on Allagash White yet), was the Wild Wit from La Sirene's Avant Garde Collection in Australia.
Not only was the Netherland's one of the great trading ports of the time, they were also ruled by the Spanish. Therefore Spanish grown products would have been the norm as the ruling minority would have wanted their home comforts in between trying to put down various rebellions and religious uprisings
Yeah, and I guess many of the first settlers of the northeast of the US were Dutch too... maybe they just brought it with them?
Has Hoegaarden really gone down in quality? I drink Hoegaarden classic & Hoegaarden Grand Cru, & Hoegaarden Speciale in Belgium for last 10 years & they are all amazing beers. However, i have seen it sold in pubs on draught in UK in pints which is madness to me (as in Belgium it's never served in pints). So maybe it's just the quality has gone down for its export markets? or UK pubs don't serve it so well (uncleaned pipes etc)
I think you needed a who can each. 😉🍻 So, it's better than Hoegaarden and Leffe Blonde? 🤭
Dudes! No mention of Peter Celis? If it wasn't for him, there'd be no Belgian Witbier as the style almost went extinct. He also introduced it into the USA. The orange peel that's supposed to be traditionally used is Curaçao orange which originates in the Carribean island of the same name (which was a former Dutch colony).
There's a history of it here if you're interested:
ruclips.net/video/M6vZPUBRyLE/видео.html
Thanks for pointing out this glaring oversight. Allagash was definitely inspired and learned about wit beer from Pierre. Celis White is still our flagship brew and you can get it in the Austin/Central Texas area. The orange peels we use actually come from Hati these days. Viva la Wit!
So are there no hops in wit beers?
There are but often very, very little and originally there werent any. So the main character is the yeast, spice and fruit.
For me a Wit would be made with raw unmalted wheat whereas a weizen would use malted wheat.
German Weißbier has to follow the "Reinheitsgebot" a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer, and cannot add specimens to it or otherwise they can't call it officially beer, (that is for all beer in Germany, btw).
This isn't quite true. You can still call it beer, but you can't claim it is brewed to the Reinheitsgebot tradition, which is a big selling point in Germany among certain demographics. Craft brewers and drinkers don't tend to care though! Interestingly the reinheitsgebot also only allowed wheat because the king of Bavaria happened to own breweries making them.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel I looked up in the good old wiki, and you have 2 paragraphs about it , I'm quit confused:
paragraph 1>>
In response to the growth of craft breweries globally, some commentators, German brewers, and even German politicians have argued that the has slowed Germany's adoption of beer trends popular in the rest of the world, such as Belgian lambics and American craft styles. In late 2015, Bavarian brewers voted in favor of a revision to the beer laws to allow other natural ingredients.
paragraph 2 >>>
The law's applicability was further limited by a court ruling in 2005, which allowed the sale of beer with different ingredients as long as it was not labeled "beer". The law thus became a labeling standard.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel So looked it up a 2nd time this time in the German wiki; It says Imported Beer can be called Beer but Germans need to ask for a permission to call it special beer. Dudes I'm just saying, but this absolutely is an interesting topic for yr RUclips Channel.
Can anybody recommend any good wide-available craft beers with Wheat in UK? Don't care for style.
So in today's New England style dominated world most IPAs have wheat in as well as most clean sours. But if you want beers that really show off wheat character then Hophand Fallacy by Lost and Grounded, Quiet Song by Duration, Pressure Drop Wugang Chops the Tree... I'll keep thinking of more!
Always wondered if wit was wheat or white
Haha well we didn't make it clear enough it seems, but it means white...and then in brewing it still means white but always indicates the use of wheat.
That makes a lot of sense! Wit = white, but it’s still made with some wheat
Some Belgians Lupulus, Wit, Blanche de Namur, Blanche de Bruxelles, St-Bernardus Wit, Struise Witte ...
The boys "Weiss means white in German"
Wit means white in Flemish/Dutch too, didn't scroll through all the comments, someone pointed may have pointed this out already.
wit means white in dutch.
The BJCP guidelines tells us that German wheat beer contains a minimum of 50% wheat.
Yes but the BJCP guidelines say a lot of things and is far from gospel! I'd expect almost all German Hefes are 50% or more, but internationally not sure sure that's the case.
Hefeweizen in Germany MUST be above 50% wheat malt. Usually brewers use between 60-70%.
I stumbled randomly upon the Celis brewery in Austin, Texas and was fascinated by their history: the creator of Hoegaarden had a fire in his warehouse and was forced to sell the name to AB Inbev due to lacking cash to rebuild it, but then moved from Belgium to Texas to make his version of the fantastic Wit beer that is the original Hoegaarden. Celis White is a really good beer and I'd recommend everyone try it if they can find it. I'm not even American, I'm just working in Austin for a few weeks and I just found Celis on google maps and it looked like my kind of place. Fantastic discovery and made me love beer even more after. After this I had to check if you had a video on Wits and sure enough you do, really interesting history!
Flip IS an odd word.
Haha, should be easy to read though....
Ancient beers were not always lambic-like / sour, this is false. Please look at Lars Marius Garshol books/podcasts.
We didn't mean to imply they were all sour specifically - the majority would have displayed wild characteristics such as brett especially when aged.
For better of worse, pretty much every crappy sports bar in the U.S. stocks either Blue Moon or Shock Top.
Haha, it's for worse. Let's rip all those lines out and get Allagash on them.
Hoegaarden is a better beer CMV
I....I can't agree less. It's an awful wit, even the owner said so as he set up a new brand.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Haha to each his own
@@TheCraftBeerChannel what new brand did he set up? And do they now serve a white beer the owner does like?