Turns out you can judge a beer by its six-pack. Meet Wheach, the “peach wheat beer” from Missouri’s O’Fallon Brewery that comes in a big yellow carton with its very own mascot. No, that’s not Pac-Man. It’s a peach.
In honor of four consecutive days of yes-god-there-is-a-spring weather, I went looking for the sunniest beer I could find—and I defy anyone to top this baby, a spiked popsicle of a sipper just released on April 1st ($11.99 at Vas Foremost, 2300 N. Milwaukee Ave.). Although the brew is marketed as a seasonal tweak to O’Fallon’s year-round Wheat, don’t expect a fruitier version of your average Hefeweizen. There’s no discernable wheat flavor here—or roasted barley or hops, for that matter. Just peach. It’s not a beer that will please all palates, but it is light enough for daytime drinking; think backyard barbecues or the first beer of the evening at Ravinia.
And if anyone’s planning a road trip to points south, speak up. O’Fallon releases its 2008 Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter this week, aged in Pappy Van Winkle bourbon kegs, but the closest it’s coming to Chicago is Springfield. I’ll buy.
Photograph: Jennifer Wehunt