Discontinued beers can be a funny thing. Sometimes they are romanticized by many. Sometimes they are remembered by a few. One beer a lot of friends my age miss that is otherwise forgotten about is Samuel Adams White Ale.
Consider Sam makes numerous Belgian witbiers, I never understood why their original White Ale was discontinued and never brought back. Then after doing some research I found out that White Ale used TEN different spices and botanicals: orange and lemon peel, dried plum, grains of paradise, coriander, anise, hibiscus, rose hips, tamarind, and vanilla. That probably explains it then.
With two other light, summer beers on, this would be the 2025 vintage of Summer Somewhere. I got the idea to clone White Ale when the beer was mentioned on a group text. I went as far as to offer to brew a 10-gallon batch and bottle condition half to share. I haven't had White Ale since at least 2010. I remember the beer tasting like Sam Summer, but with added orange and coriander. That was the basis of my first witbier recipe: Walk-off White.
After researching White Ale, I realized how much more there was to the recipe. As I worked on sourcing all of the spices, some compromises were made. For example, I used a hibiscus tea that also contained rose hips as well as additional citrus and lemon. I had to go to Whole Foods to find prunes without any preservatives that would impact fermentation, or oils to impact head retention. Tamarind was just forgotten about.
Beyond that, I was surprised to learn that White Ale used "malted two row Pale barley, malted wheat, and Munich Malt", thinking the Munich Malt would darken the beer. I used an inclusion of 5%. White Ale also used Sam's house ale yeast. Hence using it in Crackerjack Cream Ale to harvest enough yeast for a ten gallon batch.
Brew day wasn't great. I ended up with only 8.5 gallons going into the fermenter. Otherwise my brewhouse efficiency was okay. The half of the batch I bottled was even more of an adventure. My auto-siphon would not work, and it was a hell of a time creating a manual siphon. The bottles ended up souring. At least it was a clean, lacto sourness. Thankfully the kegged batch came out clean.
It is impossible to say how close this beer is to White Ale. My beer is probably different enough that I wouldn't call it a clone per se. For my commercial side-by-side, I went with another White Ale fermented with an American Ale yeast: UFO White.
Aroma
Summer Somewhere 2025 (SS25): Banana, not like a Hefeweizen. Hint of licorice, more orange as it warms
UFO White: Way more orange and coriander
Appearance
SS25: Hazy, almost murky gold. Thin, foamy white head with fair retention- should be bigger.
UFO White: A shade or two lighter. Hazy, but less so than the homebrew. Thick, fuzzy white head with disappointing retention.
Flavor
SS25: Bready, doughy malt - like a wheat sandwich bread. Tart from hibiscus and citrus, but with an underlying fruity sweetness. Does finish a little peppery in a nice way. No hop flavor, while bitterness is low but sufficient. Fermentation feels clean, but hard to tell under all the spices.
UFO White: Malt flavor less intense. Compared to the homebrew this feels more straight ahead orange - like a navel orange from the grocery store, and spice. The coriander is quite floral almost, as opposed to being hammy or celery tasting like it can ne at times, while still providing a peppery balance to the malt and citrus. Hop bitterness may be a touch higher, or it might just feel that way. Some esters if you look for them.
Mouthfeel
SS25: Med light body, creamy and quite soft. Carbonation could maybe be a little higher. Enough zest and spice to finish nice and crisp.
UFO White: Medium body, medium high carbonation. More effervescent with an even crisper finish.
Overall
Considering my recipe was inspired by a beer that’s been discontinued for at least fifteen years, this isn’t quite apples to apples. UFO White has a very different citrus flavor. It may also feel more different than it is because Summer Somewhere is maltier and softer on the palate.
It would be easy to say Summer Somewhere is more complex just because it has nine different botanicals, but that’s not why it is. I like the slightly richer malt flavor. As great of a job as the brewers did sourcing their coriander in UFO White, the spice doesn’t slap you in the face quite as much in the homebrew while still providing sufficient balance.
The carbonation on the homebrew is more of a serving and dispense issue than anything else.
Every time I pour a pint of Summer Somewhere, I get something different. At first, I thought it was fruity and sweet, like I was tasting the plums. Others have said the beer was tart, tasting the hibiscus. One friend who hates cilantro picked out the coriander right away.
So far this summer I am two for two with beers brewed for the best season of the year.
Brewer: Jason Chalifour Style: Witbier TYPE: All Grain Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 12.46 gal Post Boil Volume: 11.46 gal Batch Size (fermenter): 10.50 gal Bottling Volume: 10.25 gal Estimated OG: 1.053 SG Estimated Color: 4.2 SRM Estimated IBU: 8.9 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 73.3 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume 15.08 gal Yellow Full (Under 6 SRM) Water 1 - - 4.03 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) Water Agent 2 - - 2.69 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent 3 - - 1.34 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash) Water Agent 4 - - 1.00 Items Campden Tablet (Mash) Water Agent 5 - - 1.00 tsp Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent 6 - - 12 lbs Pale Malt, 2-Row (Rahr) (1.8 SRM) Grain 7 54.6 % 0.94 gal 8 lbs White Wheat (Stone Path) (2.3 SRM) Grain 8 36.4 % 0.63 gal 1 lbs Bonlander Munich Malt 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 9 4.5 % 0.08 gal 1.00 tsp Lactic Acid (Sparge) Water Agent 10 - - 2.00 oz Tettnang [2.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 11 8.9 IBUs - 1.00 oz Lemon Zest (Boil 5.0 mins) Flavor 12 - - 2.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 5.0 mins) Other 13 - - 8.00 Items Hibiscus Tea (Tazo) (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 14 - - 4.00 g Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 15 - - 2.00 oz Anise, Star (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 16 - - 1.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 17 - - 1.00 oz Orange Peel (Fresh) (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 18 - - 2.00 Items Vanilla Beans (Primary) Flavor 19 - - 1 lbs Prunes [Primary] Fruit 20 4.5 % 0.12 gal 4.0 pkg East Coast Ale (White Labs #WLP008) [35.49 ml] Yeast 21 - - Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 22 lbs ---------------------------- Name Description Step Temperat Step Time Mash In Add 6.61 gal of water at 165.1 F 150.0 F 75 min Sparge: Fly sparge with 8.47 gal water at 168.0 F Notes: ------ Topped off kettle w/1 gal water More boiloff and kettle deadspace than expected, ended up with 9 gal of wort Harvest 0.3L Slurry from Crackerjack Cream Ale Fermented in two plastic buckets I soaked in Brew Clean and Iodine sanitizer Inspired by Samuel Adams White Ale From Untappd: Spicy yet smooth. Brewed with 10 exotic spices. This beer's roots are in Belgium, and the classic Wit biers produced by Belgium's brewers. The style gets its name from the white, milky appearance of this unfiltered wheat ale. The brewers of Samuel Adams® beer, taking inspiration from the Belgians, have created a classic of their own. On the malt side, we use malted two row Pale barley, malted wheat, and Munich malt to give this beer a crisp, malty, cereal finish and smooth mouth feel. The hops used are Noble Tettnang Tettnanger hops. At the end of the kettle boil, we add a proprietary spice blend to give Samuel Adams® White Ale a unique and complex flavor, without being overpowering or cloying. The spice blend includes orange and lemon peel, dried plum, grains of paradise, coriander, anise, hibiscus, rose hips, tamarind, and vanilla. It is this special blend of spices that gives Samuel Adams® White Ale its unique character, complexity and refreshing drinkability. The beer is coarse filtered, leaving a white haze from the malt proteins. Our proprietary top fermenting ale yeast ferments the beer, imparting its signature character - bright and slightly fruity.
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