Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week": New Holland Zoomer Wheat Ale

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 15, 2007 4:00PM

A couple months back as our Chicago winter blended into summer, we were doing some research on summer beers that turned out to be very beneficial. We were preparing for what we thought at the time would be a summer without Bell's Oberon. However that beer, while still legally unavailable in Illinois, turned out to be easier to acquire than we thought. And although we like Goose Island 312, we didn't see ourselves going through the whole summer with that as our go-to beer.

One of the breweries that's been able to capitalize on Bell's pulling out of Illinois has been New Holland Brewing Company. Their Mad Hatter IPA - a previous "BotW" selection - has filled in nicely for Bell's Two-Hearted; we actually prefer New Holland's Sundog over Bell's Amber. This week, while there is still time to enjoy the beer, we're highly recommending you try New Holland's seasonal wheat ale selection.

To our palate we actually prefer "Zoomer" over "312," which to some might me blasphemous. Zoomer is an effervescent beer with loads of light carbonation. It's also a wheat ale where we were also able to taste the wheat, which is sometimes a good thing. The use of ale yeast gives the drinker some different flavors, as well. You'll note some light pepper and clove on the palate, and pepper with bright lemony citrus on the nose. Zoomer would be perfect for those no-swim days at 63rd Street beach.

Mostly, we recommend Zoomer because it tastes good, which is why it's now New Holland's third selection to earn "Beer of the Week" status.