Tommyknocker Brewery - Jack Whacker Wheat

Like most wheat beers, Jack Whacker is bottled unfiltered and, thus, there’s quite a bit of haze to its golden-straw hue – as we’d expect. Tommyknocker takes the unusual step of brewing this beer with lemongrass, and, indeed, there is a mild citrus quality which supports the distinctly wheaty notes in the aroma, which is also bolstered by touches of hay and grass. That lemony citric note comes through on the palate too, and it works well. While lemongrass is an uncommon ingredient in beer, it makes sense here as it parallels the lemon or orange wedges that are often served with wheat beers like hefeweizen and witbier. We found this brew very well balanced with a much better body and flavor composition than many lesser American-style wheat ales. Pair with grilled halibut spritzed with lemon, or a salad of mixed greens with cucumber and vinaigrette. Cheers!

The Tommyknocker Brewery was founded as a brewpub in 1994 (which coincidentally is also the year we started The Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club) at an elevation of about 7500 feet in the old mining town of Idaho Springs, CO. The town, which is about a 40 mile drive west of downtown Denver, was founded in 1859 during the Colorado gold rush, and it is this mining history that the brewery latched on to when crafting their brand identity. Tommyknockers are mythical creatures, not unlike leprechauns, that are purported to live underground and signal to miners when a collapse is imminent by making knocking sounds in the rock. They also get blamed sometimes when tools malfunction or go missing.

We can’t verify if tommyknockers are responsible for swiping miners’ tools when they aren’t looking, but we can tell you that they do know how to make some good beers in their spare time. In fact, they’ve been collecting awards since 1995 from both the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. If you’re ever traveling through the Rockies on I-70 near Denver, it’s well-worth stopping at the brewpub for a buffalo burger and a fresh brew on draft. The brewery produces a very broad range of year-round and seasonal beers (as many as 19 by our count) as well as a line of sodas including orange, strawberry, and almond cremes as well as root beer. We'll let you discover those on your own and stick to what we do best: Beer! For more information about the brewery and brewpub, call (303) 567-2688 or check out their web site at www.tommyknocker.com.