All About Beer Magazine

Beer Talk

Crack’d Wheat

New Glarus Brewing Co.
New Glarus, WI

Available: WI

Crack’d Wheat is brewed in New Glarus new state-of-the-art Hilltop Brewery. The beer combines attributes of Bavarian hefeweiss and an American pale ale. It is brewed with Wisconsin Red Wheat, dry-hopped with Amarillo and fermented with Bavarian weiss yeast, then bottle-conditioned.

ABV: 6.2
ABW: 4.94
Color: 6
Bitterness: 31
Original gravity: 1054

• Lisa Morrison

  It’s an American pale ale! No, wait, it’s a hefeweizen! Actually, Crack’d Wheat is a bit of both. And while that might sound like a possible train wreck, it’s surprisingly not. Thanks to a deft hand by New Glarus, this beer—which pours a cloudy, bright yellow with a big fluffy, white head—offers the desirable qualities you’ve come to expect from both an APA and a traditional Bavarian hefe. The aroma speaks first to its German roots: some clove, bubblegum and banana with an undercurrent of sweetness and a hint of citrus and spice. Then this beer flies its American flag, as a generous dose of dry-hopped Amarillo enters the dance, upping the citrus and making sure things don’t get too cloying. And, while the body is creamy, Crack’d Wheat finishes surprisingly dry, leaving you wanting yet another sip—or perhaps another whole bottle.

• Jeff Evans

  Imperial weizen is a beer style yet to make an impression over here in the U.K. Beers like this could do it, if they crossed the Atlantic. This hazy yellow creation wonderfully illustrates how the fermentation fruitiness of a wheat beer and the tangy hop fruit of an American pale ale make excellent bedfellows. The beer starts out like a weissbier on the palate and then, with hop bitterness fighting back, the pale ale influence has its say. Put together it’s a rainbow of flavors―banana, tropical fruit and sharp citrus, with cloves joining hops to bring bitterness to the drying, chalky finish.