Introducting Amstel Wheat: The Bier Drinker's Wheat

Last week I had the fantastic opportunity to attend the product launch event from the Amstel portfolio - Amstel Wheat (Disclosure: Heineken USA is one of our clients). The new beer was introduced just this month in select on-premise accounts in cities across the US, including New York, Boston, Providence, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco. 

The event was held at the Back Boy Social Club in Boston, where I unfortunately missed an Amstel Light and cheese pairing, along with a significant chunk of draught specialist Mark Lang's Amstel Wheat tasting session, due to one extremely late arriving bus (darn you, Greyhound!). But I did still have plenty of time to enjoy a couple of steins of the new Amstel Wheat paired with a light, flavorful dinner menu. But first, let me recap some of Mark's tasting notes.

Mark broke down the idea of tasting a beer into what he describes as The Five S's: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Swallow. Upon implementing all of these steps, you'll realize that Amstel Wheat is certainly an accessible and authentic European wheat beer. 

See: The beer has a great golden color and is slightly cloudy, as you would come to expect from this style of unfiltered wheat beer.

Swirl: How does one describe a swirl? I'll just hope you're playing along at home! 

Amstel Wheat pairs seamlessly with seafood, chicken and  light vegetarian entrees, such as this Fettuccine with Portobello Mushrooms.

Smell: On the nose, I found the Amstel Wheat to have a bountiful amount of citrus notes. 

Sip: This new beer definitely has yeasty flavors when you take your first sip, but I also happened to get a lot of peppery spice up front, too. 

Swallow: Coming in at a low 4.5% abv, Amstel Wheat has what can be described as a very floral finish. It really cleans the palate nicely before heading in for that next wonderful sip! 

Here are some other interesting tidbits I learned about Amstel Wheat throughout the evening:  the beer has a low IBU (International Bittering Units) of 11 and one 12 oz serving has 135 calories.

Dessert at the Back Bay Social Club with an Amstel Wheat beer.

Next time you're out in one of the aforementioned cities, see if your favorite watering hole is carrying Amstel Wheat and give this new brew a try for yourself. The beer is light, accessible and easy to drink and certainly will not disappoint Wheat Beer fans! 

Cheers!
SJ