Beer of the Week! 03/08/22
Eastern Divide Hive-mind Honey Wheat
Regularly $15.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
Wheat Ale with Honey
Over in the mead world, a “handshaking” between honey and beer is nothing new. (In fact, there’s a style of mead called a “braggot,” which mixes mead with malted grains and, often, hops as well.) However, you don’t see many brews putting the “bee” in “beer” as it were. That’s a shame because we’ve seen it work really well. Case in point …
Eastern Divide Brewing Company down in Blacksburg, VA. has cooked up one of the most appealing wheat ales that we’ve tasted in a long time. Wheat beers are great, however, wheat malt does produce a slight tang that can be bracing. Many brewers just let the tartness fold into their beer’s bitterness profile. What Eastern Divide does with their Hive-mind Honey Wheat is mix their unfiltered wheat ale with honey from Blacksburg’s Happy Hollow Honey — 90 lbs in every 10 barrel batch of brew.
Happy Hollow Honey is a beekeeping operation run by Richard Reid, who produces raw honey from hives that he keeps throughout Montgomery and Giles counties. Reid’s “raw honey” is unheated and unfiltered and is made from nectars from Tulip Poplar, Black Locust, Redbud, Autumn Olive, and other trees and wildflowers. (Mmm. If you ever needed a reason to visit Blacksburg ...)
Despite the amount of honey Eastern Divide adds, the honey in the Hive-mind Honey Wheat is subtle. There’s just enough to knock out the rough edges of the wheat and to add both a touch of body and a hair of floral taste. A “healthy dose” of Centennial hops rounds out the brew with a refreshing rush of citrus on the backend. The Hive-mind is nicely pitched to be one of those go-to, everyday, sit-back-sip-one-and-relax beers.
Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause double doesn’t always mean trouble!)
Basic City Bask DIPA & Begetter of Bask
Regularly $16.99 / Now on Sale for $15.96
Double New England Style IPA and More of the Same
What’s the difference between Basic City’s two big New England Style IPAs, the Bask and the Begetter of Bask? Well, the Bask came first and blew the socks off lovers of New England Style IPAs! A Double NEIPA, the Bask is just a hair shy of dry and bursts with citrusy flavor and hints of tropical fruit coming from its Mosaic and Citra hops. Oats in the malt bill make it extra hazy and a little creamy in its mouthfeel.
Begetter of Bask came later and is a “bigger” version of the Bask. (It’s the “Begetter” of Bask as in it’s Bask’s big daddy (or big momma — Why not? We say, “Screw being masculinist!”). ) It has all the flavor of the Bask turned up. Turned up how much? Well, it’s not quite Triple IPA level, or maybe it is. It’s hard to say. It’s not like there’s a hard line. If only there were an easy way of trying both of them to see …
Presenting our mixed four pack of Basic City Bask and Begetter of Bask! Bask in our Waynesboro NEIPA superiority! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
Remember!
You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!