Les Trois Mousquetaires' Blanche - Beer of the Week

by Joshua M. Bernstein, Posted Aug 17th 2009 @ 11:00AM

Les Trois Mousquetaires Blanche. Photo: Les Trois Mousquetaires.

Joshua M. Bernstein, Gourmet.com's beer columnist, has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, ForbesTraveler.com and The New York Times.

With much of the country smothered by a hot, damp quilt of humidity, drinkers need a brew suited for combating the unrepentant sun. While mowing-the-lawn beers like the Brothers Light (Bud and Coors, that is) may slake thirst, they're like fizzy tap water. A finer alternative is the flavorful German Hefeweizen.

Classically, the cloudy, unfiltered ale (examples include Jolly Pumpkin's sour Weizen Bam and the classic Schneider Weisse) possesses heaps of wheat, creating a lively beverage with a banana aroma and tangy edge.

"When I'm looking for the perfect thirst-quencher, I want a beer with a light body without being watery," says Jonathan Lafortune, the president and brewmaster behind Quebec's Les Trois Mousquetaires."[I like a] beer with a slight acidity that gives me a refreshing sensation and a little bit of spice."

That's Blanche to a tee.

Starting with Canadian malt and German wheat, Lafortune dumps in heaps of German hops and a dose of Weizen yeast. The result (a way quaffable 5 percent ABV) pours pale yellow and bubbly as seltzer, with a scent reminiscent of fresh-baked banana bread. Tastewise, the Blanche is light and zesty, with a twang of sour bitterness and carbonation as energetic as first-graders bouncing around a playground.

For your taste buds, it's as refreshing as a plunge in a swimming pool.

What Hefes are good when you're hot? Spill 'em in the comments.

Filed Under: Drink Recipes
Tags: beer, beer of the week, BeerOfTheWeek, hefeweizen, jolly pumpkin, JollyPumpkin, joshua bernstein, joshua m bernstein, JoshuaBernstein, JoshuaMBernstein, les trois mousquetaires, LesTroisMousquetaires