What a way to end a Sunday! After a pleasant weekend of spending time with grandkids, getting in some run time at the park, and mowing my formidable lawn, it was time for a casual walk to Taco Mac for a few beers. I had worked up a thirst in the warm June sun, and so was looking for something on the lighter side to start the evening’s imbibing. I chose Finch's Wet Hot American Wheat with a glass of ice water on the side to help rehydrate.

Finch's Wet Hot American Wheat is not your average wheat beer as we’ll soon see. This Chicago based brewer does not have much information on the beer on its website, but Taco Mac quotes them describing it as follows:

Wet Hot American Wheat is named for it’s particularly “wet” mash and “hot” initial fermentation temperature. It is brewed and dry hopped with Centennial and Columbus hops and utilizes two different kinds of wheat malt, White wheat and Torrified wheat. This beer has an initial sweetness that is balanced by hop additions late in the boil.

For those that care, this was Brewniversity credit 525 for me, 50 more to go to Brewniversity Professor and just 475 more to go to Brewniversity Chancellor and all the honors and privileges that bestows.

Finch's Wet Hot American Wheat has an alcohol content of 5% by volume, and I paid $6.75 for a 20-ounce mug, which seems a bit high to me.

Finch's Wet Hot American Wheat (2nd tap from the right) pours to a hazy yellow color with a moderate foamy head and a fruity nose of citrus, pineapple and passion fruit. Taking a sip the light tart wheaty body is refreshing but seems a little thin next to all the hops, and those hops quickly take over in the palate. The hops are resiny, pine tar sticky, fruity and then at the last very, very bitter. The beer is fruity in the hop burps, too.

Is this a wheat IPA? An IPAweizen? I don’t know, but I did find Finch's Wet Hot American Wheat more like a thin bodied IPA than a wheat beer truth be told. To be fair, it was still tasty and paired well with my order of hot wings, but given the price I think this one will be slightly below average at three and a half stars for me.



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