Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
When I was in Arizona for last winter’s Super Bowl, I used the opportunity to work my way through the local beer scene. I got to hit breweries like The Shop, Mother Road, Lumberyard and Wren House, but there was something missing. Four Peaks, one of the state’s oldest micro-turned-medium breweries was conspicuously absent.
Some of that was by choice. I’m not a big Scottish-style beer guy, which is exactly what their flagship Kilt Lifter is. But there was still a sense of regret. So when the brewery made its new-ish Joy Bus Wow wheat beer, I saw another opportunity. Here was the chance to give Four Peaks a try and drink a beer whose proceeds, in part, go to the Joy Bus charity, which helps improve the lives of homebound cancer patients.
A beer that helps people is an easy way to introduce yourself to new markets. Did Four Peaks come up with a product that’ll help it play outside the southwest?
Four Peaks' Joy Bus Wow Wheat: B
It pours exactly like you’d expect from a wheat beer; a little head and dandelion color. The smell off the top, once the bubbles have quickly dissipated, is the orange promised on the bottom of the can. And what a can; that’s a great retro design.
That orange permeates the opening sip, mixing nicely with the wheat to prevent the stale aftertaste trap too many low-effort wheat beers fall into. Maybe that’s a cheap fix, but it works — all without the added effort of slicing your own fruit. The wheat has some paleness to it but it’s a complementary facet that works in the beer’s favor. It’s not my favorite flavor, but it is a very drinkable one.
There’s a sweet current that lingers from the first sip until it ducks out for your esophagus. Squint and you could convince yourself you’re drinking a bready mimosa, which doesn’t sound great but does work, in this case. This wheat leans hard into citrus, but it doesn’t come across as manufactured like, say, a Bud Light Lime. It works.
That makes it a great outdoor beer. A pitcher of this on a hot day, maybe in a beer garden with some good dogs around to pet? Sounds incredible. It’s not gonna be my go-to, but it’s an easy drinker that’ll do in a pinch.
Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's?
This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I’m drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That’s the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink a Four Peaks Joy Bus Wow Wheat over a cold can of Hamm’s?
I might alternate them. It’s a nice, easy drinker but that citrus could get old after a few. It’ll lose some of its replay value once the weather turns colder, but it should get a lot of playing time this summer.
