Throughout our short but influential history, America has achieved excellence in many fields through a very simple process: we rip off ideas from other nations. Sometimes they come from family recipes preserved through the journey to opportunity in the new world. Other times, Americans get European acquaintances drunk and take their recipes.
The Widmer brothers admit that they got the secret ingredients at a bar from an intoxicated Teutonic man. They claim it was consensual, but it seems outrageous that anyone would freely give up such a recipe, unless of course he was too drunk to know any better. Smooth, crisp and clean, the brothers hijacked a beer that now stands at the top of American Hefewiezens.
Name: Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen
Rating: Four out of five beer bottles
Where Brewed: Portland, Oregon
Cost: $7.99 for a six-pack at Riley's
