White beers are an old Belgian beer style that come from a region near Liege centered on the small town of Hoegaarden. In the 1800's there were 30 white beer breweries in this region. Then Belgian brewing went through a period of consolidation and homogenization. By the early sixties there were no Wit beer breweries left. Pierre Celis reopened Hoegaarden's brewery in 1966 and began a worldwide revival of the style.

Recently Celis moved to Austin, Texas and opened Celis Brewing Company, thus bringing this style to the United States. For a few months Celis White was distributed in San Diego, but then distribution was stopped. Avid fans like Ballast Point Brewmasters Peter A'Hearn and Yuseff Cherney were left to brew their own. Through long trial and error we developed a recipe that does justice to the old Belgian tradition, now sold in San Diego as Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat Beer.

Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat Beer is created using the same ingredients that were once used in Belgium. Flaked unmalted wheat, oats and malted barley comprise the grain. The unmalted wheat has a high protein content, which causes the beer to be hazy, thus giving it a cloudy, or "white" appearance. A special yeast gives a refreshing tangy flavor that is different from both the sour Weiss beers of Berlin or the banana and clovey Weizens of Bavaria. The mild hopping allows the unique malts to show through and does not conflict with the subtleties of the citrus spicing. This unique citrus character is created by adding a blend of curacao (bitter orange), sweet orange and coriander to the boil. White beers are light and refreshing, yet provide a complex reminder that interesting high quality beer does not have to be bitter and dark. Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat Beer is the perfect beer for sunny San Diego.