The Michelob Family Continues To Offer New Beer Styles with Its Latest Wheat Sampler Pack

After a long winter, beer lovers have anxiously waited to see what new recipes Michelob Brewing Co. brewmasters had up their sleeves to usher in the new year. Well, wait no longer – Michelob Honey Wheat is the newest beer to join the growing collection. This hand-crafted filtered wheat ale, brewed with orange blossom honey from the groves of Florida and California, completes an all-wheat sampler pack created just for spring and summer.

The Michelob Brewing Co. Spring/Summer Sampler Pack, available beginning March 2, includes Michelob Honey Wheat, year-round favorites Shock Top Belgian White and Michelob Dunkel Weisse, and the spring seasonal Hop Hound Amber Wheat.

Sampler packs are an easy and convenient way for adults to try several new beer styles. Brewmaster Kristi Zantop suggests arranging a wheat beer sampling at home with friends to have some fun and brush up on your beer expertise. The Michelob Brewing Co. brewmasters have made it easy by including an informative flighting sheet in each sampler pack and posting interactive videos to Michelob.com to guide beer lovers through the ingredients, coloring, body, bitterness levels and brewing techniques for the four styles, along with suggestions for glassware pairings.

To sound like a brewing pro, Zantop shares some key facts to bolster wheat beer know-how:

• “When you’re sampling beers, always select the proper glass style and shape. This will enable you to enjoy the beer’s aroma and coloring – key parts of the tasting experience. With wheat beers, try a traditional tall, wide-mouthed glass.”
• “Typically wheat beers are not filtered during the brewing process, giving them a cloudy, hazy appearance, but it’s not uncommon to encounter filtered wheat beers as well, like Michelob Honey Wheat. When unfiltered wheat beers are bottled, the beer’s yeast settles to the bottom, so when you’re pouring an unfiltered beer from the sampler pack, like Dunkel Weisse for instance, roll the bottle slowly in your hand before topping off the pour with the last inch of beer from the bottle – this helps redistribute the yeast.”

Over the past four years, wheat beer sales have skyrocketed – and it’s no wonder. Adults love wheat beers’ refreshment and endless variety of flavors and aromas, making an all-wheat beer sampler pack the ideal choice for the Michelob Brewing Co.’s newest special collection.

The four distinct wheat brews featured in the Michelob Wheat Beer Sampler Pack are:

• Michelob Honey Wheat: a silky, smooth filtered wheat ale brewed with orange blossom honey. Zantop and her team wanted to push the envelope with their newest creation, playing around with different varieties of honey until they found just the right kind to give Honey Wheat a pronounced floral aroma and hints of orange citrus flavor.
• Hop Hound Amber Wheat: an unfiltered American amber wheat ale brewed with Cascade, Willamette and Hallertau hops and a blend of the finest caramel, wheat and pale barley malts.
• Shock Top Belgian White: an unfiltered Belgian-style wheat ale with a naturally cloudy and light golden color, brewed with orange, lemon and lime peels and coriander.
• Michelob Dunkel Weisse: a surprisingly light unfiltered dark wheat ale with unmistakable clove and banana tones, a result imparted from the unique Bavarian yeast strain used.

“We played around with several recipe concepts before honing in and perfecting the Honey Wheat. Its smooth citrus flavor and strong floral aroma are just the right balance to our Bavarian-style dark wheat Dunkel Weisse with roasted malt and banana flavors, our Belgian-style wheat ale Shock Top with subtle citrus and spice notes, and our American-inspired Hop Hound Amber Wheat with its caramel sweetness,” said Zantop. “Whether you are hosting a sampling party or pairing the beers with your favorite foods, there’s something for everyone in this craft collection."

The Michelob Spring/Summer Sampler Pack is available at grocery and convenience stores nationwide through September in 24-packs (six of each beer), 12-packs (three of each beer) and six-packs (two of each beer, Hop Hound Amber Wheat not included).

Each recipe in the collection was developed in the Michelob Brewing Co. – a small, 10-barrel, state-of-the-art brewery with access to the best ingredients and brewing equipment.

Michelob Brewing Co. is a team of Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and sales and marketing professionals who focus their attention on creating new beer styles and bringing them to adults across the country. Once new recipes are perfected at the Michelob Brewing Co. they are brewed and packaged at Anheuser-Busch’s 12 regional breweries. For more detailed information and photos, visit www.michelob.com or www.anheuser-busch.com/ABMarketingmichelob.html.