For those of us who are aficionados of wheat beer (witbier in Belgium and thereabouts), there are many others out there worth a try (see here).

We just completed a trip that took us from home to Amsterdam and on to South Africa, and the same route back.

Wheat beers are easy to find in the States, the most ubiquitous being Blue Moon—with Shocktop a close runner-up.

Alas, wheat beers are non-existent in South Africa. Not a single establishment where I inquired about them (and I inquired everywhere I went) knew what I was talking about when I asked for one.

On one excursion I spied a place that had "wheat" and "hops" in its logo, and I thought surely I had found my source. But no, they didn't comprehend the finer points of their own logo. The chap behind the counter actually said, "You mean marijuana?"

"No, not weed beer; wheat beer." He'd never heard of it.

We got by, but it was a long two weeks. Then back to Amsterdam, with enough time between flights to resume my search much closer to the home base of witbier.

Egads! Still no luck. I didn't get it then, and I still don't now. I could understand places not stocking wheat beer, given the vicissitudes of market sharing; but not even knowing what it was—that was unforgivable! And just a little up the road, relatively speaking, from Belgium.

I didn't see another wheat beer until we landed in Atlanta, where I spied a splendid huge Blue Moon bottle painted on the wall just outside... the Blue Moon Cafe! Blue Moon everywhere, straight from the tap and served in fine large glasses—Stopover and Layover sizes.

It was good to be home.