UFO (UnFiltered
Offering) Hefeweizen
Review Date 7/1/2003 Latest Update: 4/13/2012
Try?
Re-buy?
Have you ever seen a UFO? If you have, you’re not alone.
Former President Jimmy Carter, a resident of my adoptive state of Georgia,
claims he once saw a UFO. Some people claim to have been abducted by aliens
and carried off in a UFO. Me? I see UFOs all the time. Just the other day, I
was in my favorite local liquor store when I heard a strange hum emanating
from the cooler housing the microbrew beer. I looked in and there I saw it:
a UFO. Six of them actually, cylindrically shaped, brightly colored, and
hovering together in perfect formation.
OK, so it was just a six-pack of Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen beer I was looking at, and the strange hum was just the cooler compressor. I still saw a UFO. Better yet, later that night, I drank one. What is UFO? UFO stands for UnFiltered Offering, meaning there is yeast in the bottle and it has not been filtered out. UFO is a line of bottle-conditioned beers offered by Harpoon, one of the Northeast’s largest brewers; it began with a hefeweizen and has expanded to include a bottle-conditioned pale ale, with more styles perhaps to follow.
Harpoon itself has been around for quite a while now. Back in 1987, Harpoon became the first licensed brewery in Massachusetts since the sixties, and they haven’t looked back since. Though always in the shadow of industry leader Boston Beer Company, Harpoon has aggressively marketed its brews first throughout New England and now all along the East Coast. I can easily buy them here in Georgia in liquor stores everywhere, in supermarkets, and frequently on tap too.
Currently, Harpoon operates two breweries: the original on 306 Northern Avenue in Boston and the recently acquired Catamount facility in Windsor, Vermont. Founder Rich Doyle conceived the idea for the brewery while traveling in Europe and remarking at the wonderfully diverse beers available there, a variety that was at the time not so easy to come by here in America.
A few years ago I was judging beers with Rich at a competition in Rhode Island and we discussed the UFO concept. He explained that he felt that since hefeweizens had become quite popular in the United States of late, especially in the Pacific Northwest, it was time for a New England brewer to offer one on a regular basis. The best selling examples of the style there are not fermented with the traditional Bavarian yeast strain that gives the beer notes of banana and clove, and Harpoon’s UFO Hefeweizen emulates their model.
Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen pours to a cloudy gold color with a thick
cauliflower head and a crisp malt nose. The crackery malt body is smooth and
very drinkable with a slightly tart finish. There is a bit more hop
bitterness here than I usually find in an American style Hefeweizen. Other
than that, not much else is going on. To be quite honest, I prefer either
Redhook or Widmer Hefeweizen to UFO. Still, this is an extremely refreshing
and drinkable beer, and I enjoyed it on a hot Georgia summer day.
I especially like this one with a slice of lemon.
Originally offered at $8 a six-pack, I thought the beer was far over priced when it was introduced. Now, you can buy it for about $6.49, much more in line with the beer’s quality. But with beer prices creeping up these days, it will likely be heading back toward the $8 mark again.
OK, so it was just a six-pack of Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen beer I was looking at, and the strange hum was just the cooler compressor. I still saw a UFO. Better yet, later that night, I drank one. What is UFO? UFO stands for UnFiltered Offering, meaning there is yeast in the bottle and it has not been filtered out. UFO is a line of bottle-conditioned beers offered by Harpoon, one of the Northeast’s largest brewers; it began with a hefeweizen and has expanded to include a bottle-conditioned pale ale, with more styles perhaps to follow.
Harpoon itself has been around for quite a while now. Back in 1987, Harpoon became the first licensed brewery in Massachusetts since the sixties, and they haven’t looked back since. Though always in the shadow of industry leader Boston Beer Company, Harpoon has aggressively marketed its brews first throughout New England and now all along the East Coast. I can easily buy them here in Georgia in liquor stores everywhere, in supermarkets, and frequently on tap too.
Currently, Harpoon operates two breweries: the original on 306 Northern Avenue in Boston and the recently acquired Catamount facility in Windsor, Vermont. Founder Rich Doyle conceived the idea for the brewery while traveling in Europe and remarking at the wonderfully diverse beers available there, a variety that was at the time not so easy to come by here in America.
A few years ago I was judging beers with Rich at a competition in Rhode Island and we discussed the UFO concept. He explained that he felt that since hefeweizens had become quite popular in the United States of late, especially in the Pacific Northwest, it was time for a New England brewer to offer one on a regular basis. The best selling examples of the style there are not fermented with the traditional Bavarian yeast strain that gives the beer notes of banana and clove, and Harpoon’s UFO Hefeweizen emulates their model.
Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen pours to a cloudy gold color with a thick
cauliflower head and a crisp malt nose. The crackery malt body is smooth and
very drinkable with a slightly tart finish. There is a bit more hop
bitterness here than I usually find in an American style Hefeweizen. Other
than that, not much else is going on. To be quite honest, I prefer either
Redhook or Widmer Hefeweizen to UFO. Still, this is an extremely refreshing
and drinkable beer, and I enjoyed it on a hot Georgia summer day. I especially like this one with a slice of lemon.
Originally offered at $8 a six-pack, I thought the beer was far over priced when it was introduced. Now, you can buy it for about $6.49, much more in line with the beer’s quality. But with beer prices creeping up these days, it will likely be heading back toward the $8 mark again.
Update: 4/13/2012: Had a mug of this beer on a warm day at the Taco Mac near my work. Not sure if I've ever had it on draft before, but it didn't strike me as any more impressive than in the bottle. Not a bad beer, but does not stand out. No discernible clove or banana, but fresh crackery wheat with a hint of tartness at the end pokes through. Made a good warm weather quencher and reasonable at $5.75 for a 20 ounce mug.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
