Hinterland Brewery - Door County Cherry Wheat

As expected for a wheat ale, Door County Cherry Wheat presents very hazy in the glass, with a deep orange-gold color and a slight reddish tinge from the use of real Montmorency cherries – an iconic crop from Wisconsin’s Door County whose peninsula separates Green Bay from the rest of Lake Michigan. On the nose, we’re greeted by pleasantly bready, wheaty malt undertones overlaid by a vivid fruitiness from the cherry addition and some bright Centennial hops. In the flavor department, look for the tart cherries to meld quite nicely with the characteristic tanginess of wheat, augmented by some juicy, citric hop notes. We found the malt backbone quite robust for the style, offering a good dose of caramelization and lightly toasty breadiness to deliver support and balance for the brighter fruity notes. It all culminates as a crisp and refreshing brew with plenty of satisfying heft at the center to keep us coming back for more. For pairing options, the brewery recommends barbecue and sausages, and we agree. Roasted meats should work well, too, especially with a fruity sauce. A balsamic marinated roasted chicken with a rich cherry sauce sounds just about perfect. Cheers!

Hinterland Brewery was founded by husband and wife duo Bill and Michelle Tressler in 1995. The story begins a couple years earlier when the young couple were living in California’s Bay Area with Bill working as a journalist at the SF Chronicle. When work dried up in the midst of a strike at the paper, it was a natural fit for him as a homebrewer to take a new job as editor for American Brewer and Beer the Magazine. Fully bitten by the beer bug at that point, he enrolled in brewing school at both UC Davis and the American Brewers Guild to learn more about commercial brewing. He and Michelle then returned back to Wisconsin and started a tiny brewery in a defunct cheese factory just outside Bill’s hometown of Green Bay. At first, Bill and Michelle were the only employees, handling everything from brewing, to bottling, to marketing, while relying upon generous friends and family to lend as many hands as possible.

Despite their modest beginnings, soon enough they were able to expand their operation by moving into a larger facility – a turn-of-the-century era former meat packing warehouse in Green Bay which gave them more space for production as well as a farm-to-table restaurant. Fast forward 30 years and Hinterland is a fixture of Green Bay’s Titletown district, directly across the street from Lambeau Field. Their vision is to brew beer they can be proud of, and not “corporate, diluted crap.” Cheers to that! The brewery produces an array of year-round, seasonal, and limited production beers, and their attached Beer Hall restaurant evokes a “German bräuhaus with an urban twist and a better sense of humor.” For more info, check them out at hinterlandbeer.com.