CorkBillyBeers #33. Four excellent IPAs. Worth looking out for from White Hag, Boundary, Wicklow Wolf and McGills

CorkBillyBeers #33

Craft journey with White Hag, Boundary, Wicklow Wolf and McGills

Four excellent IPAs. Worth looking out for.

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White Hag Danann Juicy IPA 5.8% ABV, 440ml can Bradleys

Dark orange colour, hazy of course, topped with quite a big soft white head. Aromas are hoppy, pine and citrus. A pretty stern bitterness. There are no less than five hops employed) fronts the palate though the caramel malt sneaks in its sweet contribution to make this an intense flavour experience. Quite a beer actually, especially if you like your hops to have the edge that results in a bitterish lip-smacking finish.

They say: Our brand new Juicy IPA Danann, has unlocked a whole blast of juice from a combination of Citra, Mosaic, Columbus, Strata and Chinook hops.

From that quintet, you can expect the juicy blast they mention and flavours ranging from tropical to strawberry, plus dank notes and hints of spice and pine. Quite a melange then for their first juicy IPA but well balanced.

Enjoyed this juicy one with its hoppy spine and malty sweetness at the edges. 

Very Highly Recommended.

For your Diary: Hagstravaganza 9 - August 12th 2023.

“Tickets for this annual event, which is the highlight of our year and of many of our customers, are officially on sale!

As ever, we are striving to continue setting the bar even higher for ourselves and we're aiming to make this our biggest festival yet.

On top of having some of craft beer's global leaders & plenty of top-class up-and-coming breweries, we will host the best of Irish food producers we work with, live music, the usual beer garden Olympics, and some other surprises... and of course a magical train journey to the afterparty!!”

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Boundary Imbongo Tropical IPA 5.5% ABV, 440ml can Bradleys 

“Imbongo is our Tropical IPA. It’s absolutely jam-packed with all of the juicy, tropical and stone fruit goodness.” So pleased are the brewery, and of course its customers, with this beer that it has been promoted to core status.

Colour is a light hazy orange with a soft fluffy head that sinks slowly. Hints of mango and apricot in the modest aromas. And more of the tropical on the palate. Bursting with flavour for sure but also well-balanced.

Boundary Brewing was established in 2014 and is a cooperative brewery, shaped and run by its own members. At the core of the brewery is the drive to produce brews inspired by both Belgian and US beers and styles. This one is certainly different to your usual tropical IPA, serious yet seriously quaffable.

Tasty and clean and Very Highly Recommended.

They strive to use only select high-grade ingredients which include Simpsons Malts and American hops. And if this doesn’t sound exciting enough, check out the cans! An IPA that apparently took 18 months to perfect.  Extra pale malt and Mosaic and Azacca hops were used in the worthy and worthwhile effort.

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Wicklow Wolf Tundra Tropical IPA, 5.6%, 440ml can.

“Tundra is a New England-style IPA, dry hopped with a massive amount of tropical hops.”

That is how Wicklow Wolf introduces their Tundra Tropical IPA, now one of their core beers. It has a hazy colour and a soft white head. Aromas are tropical, like mango lassi, even a little dank and resin. It is tropical, sweet and tangy on the palate, and is even more tropical here including a burst of mango and pineapple but with enough of a modest acidity to keep it all in balance. Just a slight bitterness in the finish but it is very satisfying and leaves one licking one’s lips as HM might say.

Very Highly Recommended

Best served at 8 degrees and I’ve seen pairing suggestions of Grilled sardines, a Morbier cheese or a grapefruit/peanut/spinach salad. I’m thinking it would be fine with meats and veg from the BBQ, and quite a few pizzas. A big juicy NEIPA like this will be perfect with a big juicy burger; if you're an untidy drinker or eater, then have a roll of heavy-duty kitchen paper handy. Happy Summer.

Geek Bits

Best served at 8  degrees

IBU: 30

Hops: Citra, Mosaic, Idaho 7 & Sabro.

Malts: Pale, Wheat, Flaked Oats, Cara

By the way, if you are a hop nut, then the White Hag Danann might be a safer bet. An unsafe bet? That would be staking your wad that New England is in the tropics even if the tropics are in New England. Confusing!

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McGill’s Waterville IPA 5% ABV, 500ml bottle Centra Waterville

Up to about ten years ago, it was almost impossible to get craft beer in Kerry. But, with at least five breweries in the county, all that has changed. 

MCgills are the most recent of these breweries and their beers are widely available in the county including now available at both Killarney Carry Outs. We came across it first in the Lobster Bar and Restaurant in Waterville where McGills are based. Very happy with it this well-balanced drink. That led to a spur-of-the-moment meeting with brewer Joe McGill on the following morning and we are now well into his beers.

Colour of the Waterville IPA is a mid-gold, very slightly hazy, with no shortage of carbonation. Pine and citrus feature in the aromatics. In the palate, you'll find a subtle, malt sweetness and refreshing bitterness. Smooth, really bursting with flavour.

“Like an angel crying on your tongue,” brewer Joe McGill sings its praises. Not too sure I’d go that far but Highly Recommended.  Joe suggests pairing it with“ Strong, spicy food: curries, burgers, fish & chips”. 

Joe says that each beer is unique to the area of South Kerry. “They reflect our local heroes, culture, and history. To give you a few examples: “Our blonde is named in honour of the famous Skellig Monks. Our Stout is named after the local Dark Sky Reserve which is one of only three gold-tier reserves for stargazing in the world. Our Red Ale is named after local woman Maude Delap who was the first person in the world to study the full life cycle of jellyfish in captivity.” 

A Quart of Ale± #132. On the craft journey with Blacks, Wicklow Wolf, Boundary, Backyard.

A Quart of Ale± #132

On the craft journey with Blacks, Wicklow Wolf, Boundary, Backyard.

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Blacks Stratasbeer Intergalactic IPA, 5.00% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

Kinsale brewery Black’s announcement of this IPA invites you to “Blast through the Stratosphere into a whole new hop Universe..” And says it is “hopped to the high heavens with fresh Galaxy and Strata hops!”

Now let us come to earth and try it out! Colour is a straw/light orange, closer to clear than hazy, and it has a lovely white top. Aromas are not at all over the top. And those hops certainly add a supple backbone to the palate, yet again the flavours, like the aromas, are not over the top either, thankfully as far as I’m concerned. 

Flavours include the expected peach, passion fruit and citrus from the Australian hop Galaxy while the USA’s Strata reinforces that experience while also adding some herbal and even dank notes. Galaxy, often used in hop forward beers, is a key factor in many IPAs.

Very happy with this one, I’m glad to say. But how do you class this particular Kinsale IPA. It is West Coast, East Coast? Or Intergalactic, as they say!

With one hop from the US and the other from down under, it could well be of the Pacific style, that is beers brewed mostly with Australian and New Zealand hops (according to Mark Dredge’s just published book Beer: A Tasting Course). Colour and clarity certainly match the Pacific description and the ABV falls right in the middle of the style’s 3.5%-7%. Close but maybe not close enough.

Anyhow, let us not worry too much about the style. It is a well made and highly refreshing beer with a nicely judged hop kick all the way up to the finish. Blacks are back with a Stratospheric boom!

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Wicklow Wolf Locavore Winter 2022 Dry Irish Stout, 5.6%, 440 ml can Bradleys

“The latest edition in Wicklow Wolf's Locavore series is made from hops hand-picked by the Wicklow Wolf team. As always, this series is a beautiful expression of all Co. Wicklow has to offer. This release is a fresh-hopped dry Irish Stout. Promises to be wonderfully fresh and crisp!”

It is not the best of stouts but damn well close. The soft head has a tan  colour.  The aromatics are moderate but very pleasant indeed with a light toastiness and a slight hoppy bitterness leading the way. The smooth soft palate then reveals big flavours of roasted malt, a bigger presence than the hops, and there’s a streak of acidity in there too that helps keep it all in delicious harmony, smooth dry and clean into the finalé.

They have used the finest Irish ingredients:  Wicklow Harvest Mountain Water, Hops from the 2021 Harvest on their hop farm and hop garden at the brewery and their own malted barley and wheat which was grown in the field behind the brewery.

They say: “Locavore is a beer series that champions local ingredients, terroir and sustainability. Growing our own ingredients here in Wicklow is something that we are extremely proud of and you get to taste the fruits of the Wicklow landscape. You can follow the journey and story of this year’s Locavore Winter Dry Irish Stout by simply scanning the QR Code on the can.”

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Boundary Next Episode Helles Lager, 4.8% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

Belfast’s Boundary Brewery are happy with their Helles: “We only started making lagers in the last year or so, but we absolutely love them - this is our first re-release of this German style Helles, NEXT EPISODE - it's clean, smooth, crisp, proper summer beer.” Art work is by John Robinson.

So there you are. Summer. Well I’m late again. But let us have a try - the heating’s on! It is amber coloured with a fairly short-lived white head. Aromas are mild, with malt upfront. And it’s also malty on the palate and clean and crisp as they say.

The German Helles , easily found in Munich, has a crisp finish similar to Pils. Cool and refreshing, this everyday beer goes well with salads, shrimp, or fish, an excellent session beer. That’s what Boundary were aiming for.

How To Pour A German Lager From A Can or Bottle*

1. Tilt the glass or stein at a 45 degree angle.

2. Place the tip of the bottle in the glass, and pour the beer quickly down the side.

3. Start to straighten the glass as the beer reaches the top to create a nice head of foam.

• from kegworks.com 

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Backyard Toasted Oat Export Stout, 7.0% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

This is the second beer from Backyard, their first a normal strength stout. This is, they say,  “A classic export stout with added toasted oats. An extra smooth body with the dark malty flavours that you expect from an export stout.”

Colour is the expected black with a tighter than normal tan head. 

Aromas give the expected toasty malty sensation. And there’s more malty roast on the palate with citrus and floral notes from the Citrus hops, with little hint of the high alcohol. Smooth enough (the oat bonus) though, with a decent finish. 

A Quart of Ale± #104. On the craft journey with Wicklow Wolf, Boundary, Otterbank and O Brother

A Quart of Ale± #104

On the craft journey with Wicklow Wolf, Boundary, Otterbank and O Brother

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Wicklow Wolf Locavore Spring 2022 Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale with Brett 11.9%, 330ml bottle Bradleys

Locavore Spring 2022 is a Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale aged for 36 months in Chianti Red Wine Barrels. “Conditioned with wild yeasts from the brewery’s hop farm and carefully monitored by the watchful eyes of our brewing team, the beer was allowed to slowly mature over time to give a magnificent depth of complex flavours.”

The result? A wild, sour farmhouse ale that champions the wild yeasts of the Wicklow Wolf Hop Farm and the Wicklow terroir.

Colour is a black/brown with a light tan head. And yes, there is indeed a “magnificent depth of complex flavours”. And very little physical sign of the high ABV. 

Three years in the Chianti Barrels, plus the wild yeast, has undoubtedly worked on the beer, giving it waves of flavour, everything from fruit flavours (sour cherry) to Balsamic  to darker (espresso), rich for sure but no shortage of a balancing tart acidity. 

Brett (or Brettanomyces, to give it its full title) has a bad rep and scares the life out of many but this Wicklow Brett seems very amicable indeed, from initial sniff to aftertaste. Three years in the wood have rounded the beer into an amazing experience on the palate. Very Highly Recommended. Don’t worry too much about the details here - just sip and enjoy.

The Locavore project consists of small batch, local, experimental beers that champion terroir. Locavore was founded on provenance and pride. “It allows us to honour the landscape of Wicklow, our home, and celebrate it with small batch, local and experimental beers.” This is the 9th in the series. I’ve missed many of the earlier ones but am determined not to miss any more!

Boundary Double Nelson DIPA 8.0%, 440ml can Bradleys

Just one hop.. but a serious hop-bomb..

That’s how Belfast’s Boundary introduced this Double Nelson DIPA last March.  Colour is a very hazy orange with a soft white head. “Juicy,” they say. “ You'll catch a hint of gooseberry, passionfruit maybe.”  The fruits mentioned are typical when Nelson Sauvin is used. Nelson’s named for the grape Sauvignon blanc and that too, especially when it is grown in Marlborough (NZ), can have the same fruit flavours.

This DIPA has been dry-hopped with the Nelson (22 g/l) and it is juicy and full of flavour and finishes with quite a bitter touch. Not too sure about the gooseberry here as flavours seem more exotic. Perhaps they have different gooseberries on the South Island! 

Yet, it is a serious hop-bomb indeed and Boundary are happy: “You may have enjoyed our Full Nelson before. It's like that. But bigger.

We don't do that many single-hop beers, but this one works so nicely.”

They are also happy that they have opened Northern Ireland’s first Taproom right next door. “The Taproom will be a space for all things Boundary. Here you will be able to enjoy the freshest (and cheapest!) Boundary in the Universe…. As a Cooperative, the Taproom will also become a real community hub. We now have over 1800 members! In the new taproom we'll be able to run book clubs, running clubs, board game clubs, helping with finance classes etc.” 

You may not have come across this hops before but it is in common enough use in the craft beer world (more so recently) for American Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, and Pale Ale.  Hoplist: “The variety has gained popularity in American-style Pale Ales but is definitely a hop that requires prudent and discerning application in brewing. Nelson Sauvin’s oil profile is complex and fortunately works well as an aroma hop, flavor hop and also for bittering.”

Full nelson is a wrestling term for a type of hold; you also have a quarter nelson, a half nelson and three-quarter nelson. Not too though that there is a double nelson. But Boundary’s could well get a hold on you.

Otterbank Middle Lane American Pale Ale 4.4%, 440ml can Bradleys

This American Pale Ale from Donegal based Otterbank has a light hazy orange/gold colour and a soft white head. Aromas, not surprisingly considering it has been dry-hopped (“generously”) with Citra, are citrusy with notes of pine. Pretty damn good on the palate, refreshingly forward-hopped but not at all over the top as they get the balance spot-on.

 

Otterbank is a microbrewery based at the start/end of the Wild Atlantic Way (the brewery at the other start/end is Blacks of Kinsale) in the border village of Muff. They focus on barrel ageing, mixed and experimental fermentation (as well as the odd IPA). And the odd Pale Ale too, it seems.

Geek Bits

Malts: Stout, Cara Gold.

Hops: Centennial, Chinook, Citra.

Web: American pale ale dry hopped with Citra

Beernut: nil

O Brother You’ll Pay With Your Souls Single Hop (Simcoe) Pale Ale 5.3%, 440ml can Bradleys

Colour of this Wicklow produced Single Pale Ale is a light orange with a big soft white head that hangs around awhile. Did the old finger test in the head and came up with pine. Also found in the aromas and in the mouth where some grapefruit, passionfruit and apricot also comes through. Noticeably dry with a muscular lingering bitterness. Not bad at all but a bit one dimensional and lacks balance methinks. 

The Wicklow based O Brother are a trio of O’Neill siblings (Barry, Brian and Paddy) and they are quick to point to the contribution of their brewer Rich Barrett. On Insta, they say: “Rich is the man responsible for producing all that beautiful fresh liquid we're so proud of, and aside from being incredibly talented and a key ingredient in our success, Rich has been with us pretty much since the beginning of our journey, and is every bit one of the bros at this stage!”

 

Their core beers are The Sinner (American style IPA), The Dreamcatcher (session NEIPA), The Chancer (Pale Ale), The Nightcrawler (Milk Stout). Their beers are Unfiltered. Unpasteurised. 

Unadulterated.

Geek Bits

Hop: Simcoe (USA)

Malts: Extra Pale Malt, Pilsner Malt, Oats, Flaked Barley and Cara Pils

Ingredients: Water, Malted Barley, Oats, hops, yeast. 

A Quart of Ale± #100. Quite a quartet for the 100th: Whiplash, Dot Brew, Ballykilcavan and Boundary.

 A Quart of Ale± #100

Quite a quartet for the 100th: Whiplash, Dot Brew, Ballykilcavan and Boundary.

Whiplash Smoke Stack Lightnin’ Oaked & Smoked Brown 8.5%, 440 ml can Bradleys

Oaked and Smoked it is with its tanned head over a very close to black body. Aromas are also from the dark side, rich dark dates and raisins come with toast and in a wee cloud of coffee, may even have been a bit of smoky bacon in the background, even though Whiplash say it is not a Rauchbier. Complex, isn’t it?

It doesn’t get any simpler on the delicious palate, just better. Toasty in the main from the Brown and Biscuit malt used and the smoke’s around as well. Add in the light tannin of the oak while the yeast contributes a mild sweet nuttiness to the complexity. And yet, it is superbly balanced. Lipsmacking and totally satisfying to the finalé. Think I may live forever on the dark side.

They say: It’s still cold out there, and we’ve still room for some malty winter-ish warmers in us. Here’s Smoke Stack Lightnin’, an oaked & smoked big brown. After ferment we age this one in a light amount of American Oak. Not going for big vanilla barrel aged here, just a reminder of how beer used live for a week or two before the days of stainless steel.

Geek Bits

Pilsner Malt, Smoked Malt, Brown Malt, Dark Crystal Malt, Biscuit Malt, Flaked Barley, and Columbus hops.

Old English ale yeast

ABV 8.5%

440ml Cans

Artwork by @sophie_devere

Dot Brew When the Going Gets Gose 4.0%, 440ml can Bradleys

Coriander and Salt are among the ingredients here, a clue that this is a gose! The Beer Bible suggests that the flavour of this style of beer “is something like salted yoghurt”.

So, okay, we proceed with caution! Colour is not alarming at all, a light orange but murky. Perhaps that’s coriander in the herby aromas, light floral notes too. And then on the tangy palate, you may detect clove notes and the lemony tartness introduces itself, the coriander and salt duet towards the finish. Yet there’s nothing extreme here in the Dot Brew version; it is all very approachable, quite a pleasurable and refreshing beer indeed.

The can’s list of ingredients: Barley, Oats, Wheat, Hops, Salt, Coriander, Yeast.  The variety of the other ingredients has reduced the effects of the hops leaving us with a bright, zingy and refreshing beer. As they say themselves: “An easy drinking mixed fermentation tart ale built with pilsner malt and pale wheat.”

Gose-type beer is a beer originally made in Germany in the Goslar salt mining region, where the local water contributed the salty element.

Ballykilcavan Export Bambrick’s Brown Ale, 7.5%, Whiskey Chats Birthday Pack

“I’m in farming mode now,” said Ballykilcavan’s David Walsh-Kemmis as he joined a recent Zoom where the subject was whiskey. Whiskey? Yes, indeed. Ballykilcavan has been building strong links with the national spirit over the past decade or so. Their barley is used by Waterford while Irish Distillers have used their oak to make a limited amount of casks (for Dair Ghaelach).

This particular beer was one of the non-whiskey drinks for the Zoom tasting. David explained that the brewery is part of the diversification of the farm: “This is the export version of Bambrick, nice and malty with toffee and caramel, at 7.8%. Very much a malt beer yet not malt driven, a real flavour beer. It’s made with amber and crystal malt from our own barley.”

Deep brown going on black is the colour here, with a tan head. Aromas are chocolate and coffee. It is indeed rich and satisfying on the palate, a broad deep flavour, but quite a balance there too, maybe something mineral from their spring water and the land through which it flows, to help you to both enjoy the chocolate and burnt toffee flavours and enable the refreshing finish.

So what’s an American brown ale? The New York Times says: 

Brown ales and like-minded styles — including straightforward lagers, pilsners and porters — to name a few, are very different sorts of beers (to IPAs). They occupy subtler realms, quenching thirst with pure flavors and perhaps a snappy zestiness in the case of pilsner and a rich depth in the case of porter. They are not flamboyant styles that wow with complexity or make themselves the centers of attention. They simply satisfy. It’s the kind of beer that gets left behind in our I.P.A. culture.

The Beer Bible: Standard American Brown Ales generally weigh in at about 5% ABV and are accented toward malt richness.

Reckon the standard 5.8% Ballykilcavan Bamrick’s more or less fits the bill while this Export has a bonus for you!

Boundary Love is Here Hoppy Table Beer Pale Ale 2.6%, 440ml can Bradleys

On the lookout for a low alcohol beer? This Belfast offering, weighing in at 2.6 abv, could well fit the bill. Known in France as bière de table, table beers—are a low-ABV, malty, Belgian tradition.

Here though the tables are turned and this is a hoppy one. Boundary say: A full on hop assault in the kettle and fermenter ensures this low abv beer packs a punch. 

This is a hazy beer with a white head over a lemon-juice coloured body. The hops used are an American trio of Cascade, Citra and Simcoe and the Australian Vic Secret. Expect pine notes along with exotic fruit such as mango, pineapple and grapefruit and indeed that is what you get.

Superbly flavourful for a such a slight abv and just enough bitter notes to ensure a refreshing and balanced finish. Enjoy one. Or two!

A Quart of Ale± #95. On the craft journey with a couple of top IPAs by Boundary.

A Quart of Ale± #95

On the craft journey with Boundary, Whitefield

Boundary Inefficient Knowledge IPA 6%, 440 ml can Bradleys

This re-release by the Belfast Brewery, a cooperative owned by its members, tastes they claim, “just as banging as first time out”. Got a whiff of those hops as soon as I pulled the tab. Colour is a murky looking lemon. Those forward aromas give up citrus, mango and passionfruit and a touch of pine.

The head has vanished by the time I finished typing that first paragraph but the flavours are just waiting for the ambush which is carried out with some energy by the “banging” flavours of the more exotic fruit led by the mango and pomegranate. And it is the same combo of fruit right to the very satisfactory finalé, a finish defined by a firm note of bitterness but not at all a strident one. One of the better IPAs around these parts for sure.

It is dry hopped with 16 g/l of Nelson Sauvin, Citra and Simcoe. Nelson Sauvin is a variety from New Zealand noted for its refined Sauvignon Blanc character  (from which its gets its name) and it is becoming very popular with brewers.

Inefficient Knowledge. A strange name, not that strange names are unusual in beer. Well a little knowledge is a dangerous thing but there’s nothing insufficient about Boundary’s brewing knowledge and nothing inefficient about how they’ve applied it here.

Boundary Lounge Capacity IPA 6%, 440 ml can Bradleys

Just like the Inefficient Knowledge, the hops just cannot wait to show off, doing their aromatic stuff the second you pull that tab. The head seems too go even quicker than the other one though but you can see the murky lemon coloured liquid is more or less crammed with bubbles.

With two US hops, Amarillo and Citra, used here, you can expect citrus and mango and more and that is what shows in both aromas and flavours and they are not at all shy, going all out to deliver a tasty fruity delight of an IPA. Another very satisfactory outcome from the Belfast Brewery, though if I had to pick one, I’d give a slight edge to more complete Inefficient Knowledge.

Boundary is a cooperative owned by its members. While sipping, be sure and check out the artwork on the can by John Robinson.

This IPA has been dry hopped with 16 g/l of Amarillo and Citra.

Boundary Excellent GIF Work Imperial Stout with Tonka Beans 10%, 440 ml can Bradleys

This Boundary stout, a collaboration with Beer Hut Brewing, is a black one (you guessed?). The tan head gets out, fast! Tonka beans (Masterchef followers will know of them) are the rather exotic ingredient. It is the aromatic seed of a large tree from the Amazon rainforest.

Boundary say: “We’ve been wanting to brew with Tonka for some time.” I picked this can up on the strength of their excellent Inefficient Knowledge and Lounge Capacity IPAs but it turned to be, for me, an overly-sweet letdown.  

Just as well I’d a can of the superbly balanced Eight Degrees Devil’s Ladder (11.5% abv) on standby. Previous review here. 

• Much more on the bean in this BBC Future article here.  

Whitefield The Viscount Weizenbock 7.5%, 500 ml bottle Bradleys

Tipperary brewery Whitefield said The Viscount was “our drink of choice for Christmas Eve. A Weizenbock made with 30% sake rice.”

The German-style Weizenbock is a wheat version of a German-style bock, or a bigger and beefier dunkelweizen. They usually fall within 7-9% abv so the Templemore beer gets in. Bitterness normally is 20-35 IBU but there’s no IBU on the Tipp bottle or on the website. Indeed, there’s not a mention of this beer on the site.

Not too sure that any German producer uses or would use sake rice in a Weizenbock. So why did Whitefield do so? “Strong white beers can be overpowering but we use sake rice to add lightness and floral tones to bring about a wonderful balance. Fruity and strong, balanced,” they say.

It pours a cloudy (unfiltered) orange with a vigorous soft white head. There’s strong aromas, especially bananas. And that follows through to the palate as a sweetish element. This kind of wheat beer (including its less alcoholic cousin Weissbier) is ideal in the summer and also versatile at the table "pairing well with everything from pizza to pork, salad to seafood” according to the Beer Bible.

So did the sake rice work? Looks like it did as The Viscount has no noticeable warming alcohol sensation. The “sub-styles” of Weissbiers are Hefeweizen (cloudy orange, the original); Kristallweizen (filtered and clear), Dunkelweizen  (dark, more toasty), Weizenbock (dark, stronger), Rauchweizen (made with smoked malt, but rare).