Back in 1995, there was a beer called Crossroads that Anheuser-Busch briefly tried but never made into full production. I’m looking for a way to recreate the recipe and here’s all I can find for a description using an internet search.
“Crossroads is a cloudy, unfiltered beer that uses wheat malt instead of the barley malt used in traditional beers, and a top-fermenting Hefeweizen (or German) yeast instead of the bottom-or middle-fermenting yeast used in traditional lagers and ales. The result is a beer with an “almost fruity or clovey taste” and high effervescence that has a very clear finish and little to no after taste, according to Paul Stoddart, Crossroads senior brand manager at Anheuser-Busch.”
Does anyone remember this beer and know what beers are similar? I think the NB Bavarian Hefeweizen is in the neighborhood but it’s not quite the same. I remember Crossroads having a creamy vanilla finish that I really enjoyed.
I never had it, but sounds like a Bavarian hefeweizen. Use 50% wheat malt and WLP380, and you’ll get very close to what you seek. If you want vanilla, add vanilla.
found this: “high percentage of wheat malt” and, “two special strains of yeast”, “without the aftertaste commonly associated with specialty beers”. “Brewed in the true hefeweizen style”.
Being it was 23 years ago, I can’t really describe the finish very well. I just remember very little bitterness and a sort of creamy finish. Is vanilla the best way to describe it? Not sure but that’s kind of how I remember it.
