The Claim Jumper Hefeweizen is available at all Claim Jumper restaurants and can be purchased for approximately $3.95 and is 4.5% ABV. At time of writing, there are no known bottled versions available. This one is on tap and on tap only, fellers.
History
The Claim Jumper restaurant itself has been around since 1977. It mainly has its locations on the west coast stats with a few in Wisconsin and here in Illinois. Claim Jumper is mainly known for decent hearty foods, but it also has something very, very valuable on its menu: a beer flight. The beer flight that Claim Jumper offers has a honey blonde, their original red, and the prized hefeweizen. When ordering the hefeweizen, it is listed as being the "silver medal" hefeweizen. I really wanted to look up more information on this, but since this is not really available outside of the restaurant locations. Which is still really a shame. As this review goes on you'll see why I wished there was more info
Taste
This beer was an amazing showing from the get go. The color was that of a misty, golden-amber hue. Opaque with a very good tint. This was very good when paired with the scent the brew gave off. The beer gave off a sweet and welcoming fragrant aroma. When smelling the beer I couldn't get enough of this flowery smell that had no bitter or dry touches. I seriously wanted to smell this beer as much as a creepy high school stalker wants to smell his first crush.
...
Okay, maybe not that much, but I still couldn't get over that scent. But, you're not here for that. Nobody goes to bars and just sniffs the beers and leaves. So to the actual enjoyment.
This brew was amazing. The first and nearly only tastes you get are sweet tastes. The brew starts things out with a sweet honey note that goes all over the mouth. A distinct lemon and oat taste can be sensed towards the back of the tongue. The taste is made complete with the mouthfeel being a slight tingle across the tongue and none of the sides of the mouth or the sides of the tongue. At the end of the taste, there is a distinct lack of any dry taste, only leaving a nice wet feel across the mouth.
When tasting, it is very obvious that the brewmaster in charge did all they could to keep this beer free from bitter tastes. Since that was their intention, they got nothing but success in that.
This one overall was a fun drink if ever there was one. Were I trying to intro someone to the world of beer for the first time (and believe me, I know some folks and they will be dragged kicking and screaming) I would intro them to this fine offering from Claim Jumper.
Food
Now this one was 5 shades of perplexing when trying to pair this up with a food dish. It was not necessarily light, but it had substance without being very full bodied. The sweet tastes would need some kind of decent balance. This balance, I feel, can really only be made in a dish appropriate as a simple side of Calamari. Calamari has that bit of lemon taste that can be found in the beer, but provides a decent light salt taste to balance the sweet tastes.
However,
The other thing is that since this beer is a perfect substance and a great series of sweet notes and wet-ish finish. This beer is a very good brew and can pretty much stand on it's own legs. It took me so long to come up with the conclusion that calamari would be a good match, that I feel that it is also acceptable to say that this beer can also do fine with no food pairing. It really has a relaxation beer feel to it. I could see no reason why it needs a food to match it like other beers do.
Song
Now lastly, it is the mission of this blog to make your beer come with a song. All memories come with a song and if anyone tells you beer isn't a memory is a liar, damn his eyes. Well, more to the point, this is not a serious beer but it isn't a silly one either. The hefeweizen has nothing but sweet relaxed notes. The beer wants to be your friend, so you should probably let it. Hang out with it. Relax on a summer day. Did someone say summer day? That was probably James Taylor with his song "Summer's Here". Both the beer and the song are simple to enjoy, and meant to put one into a mood of relaxation.
A sample of "Summer's Here" can be hound here. (offsite)
Overall, the beer is amazing. A great taste for the experienced drinker to relax and just enjoy or for the new drinker to simply get into the swing of things in the world of diverse beers. And if I learn you introduced a new drinker to the world of beer using a domestic mass-produced brew, you are going to catch a whooping not seen since the riots in Chicago. I don't care how many of these 9.5 out of a possible 10 Claim Jumper Hefeweizens you throw at me, I won't calm down until you get your beatings.
Until the next round, make sure the only flat notes are the ones in your music, not your beer.
All photos are copyright of their respective owners.
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