Half Pints Weizenbock

by Dallas Reimer
(Beer Delegate, MB, Canada)

Half Pints Weizenbock: awesome without effort

Every time I pick up a new beer from Half Pints, I think back to last summer when I met David Rudge (brewmaster at Half Pints). He should have an ego, with all this wonderful stuff pouring out of his brewery and into my glass, but he doesn’t. Sure, he’s sarcastic and maybe a bit bitter, but he gave me a free beer at the Brew at the Zoo festival. What a swell guy.

So, before I take the first sip, I pray that it’s good. I would hate for it to be terrible and make me have to hurt this swell guy’s feelings. Half Pints' Weizenbock – their seasonal beer for March - especially worries me. The label describes it as having a "spicy banana aroma", which after a few whiffs, I agree with, but the prospect of banana beer has me upset and confused.

Why, Dave, why?

Half Pints has also abandoned the 660ml bottles in favor of the traditional 341ml ones. The reason for this, according to their blog, is so the beer can be served bottle-wise in bars and restaurants and continue to grow in popularity. I say, screw popularity! I miss my giant bottles. Although, holding this tiny bottle of Weizenbock in one mitt when I’m used to requiring two makes me feel like a manly, beer-drinking giant, so it’s not all bad.

Half Pints Weizenbock is a 6.2% ABV bock-style beer. The smaller labels leave no room for the traditional Half Pints "serve this with cheese and bread" suggestions, so it looks like I’ll have to make something up myself for once. I don’t know anything about beer and food pairing, but I’ll tell you this – Weizenbock is not meant to accompany a year-old, freezer-burned southwestern-flavored Lean Pockets brand sandwich. Don’t ask me how I know this.

The aroma is sweet like brown sugar and similar to Sleeman’s Honey Brown. It has none of that stale odor of hurried production. This is a beer that took time to create. I can smell love in it (although love is not listed as an ingredient).

The first sip has me confused. I don’t usually like sweet beers. This is sweet, but not high fructose corn syrup sweet. It is honestly the smoothest beer I’ve ever tried. There is no variation from lips to tongue to throat to stomach. It’s so consistent, I’ve decided to call it the Wayne Gretzky of beers.

Unlike a lot of microbrews, this is a beer I can picture myself drinking on a regular basis. It has character, but it’s not in your face, screaming opinions on global warming and the musical genius of The Who, like some other things with character that I’ve run across. It’s like that guy who acts the way he feels like, which just happens to be the way cool people act.

I’ve got a new tagline for you, Dave: Awesome without effort.