Witbier suggestions

Allagash White. Welcome to the site.

 

Weihenstephaner Hefe, Paulaner Hefe, Allagash White. All good and easily available. In terms of "branching out" it's really just about trying different things; there's no set formula.

 

Harpoon UFO White would be a good transition from Blue Moon to Allagash.

 

Clown shoes clementine is really good. Also Sierra Nevada Kellerwiess

 

If you are within their distribution, Troegs Dreamweaver. Hoegaarden is easy to find too.

 

Short answer:
Try St Bernardus Wit and De Glazen Toren's Jan de Lichte in addition to Allagash White.

Pedantic answer:
Belgian witbier is usually distinguished by using unmalted wheat, distinctive yeast strains and adjuncts like citrus rind, coriander or, much less commonly, ginger, lemon grass or grains of paradise. They may also contain oats, spelt or other grains.
German wheat beers like Weihenstephaner, Schneider or Paulaner use very different yeast strains, malted wheat and no adjuncts. At least to my palate they don't taste much like the Belgian witbiers.

 

Wegmans has Allagash White.

 

It's funny, this is one of the beers that got me into craft beers and for some unknown reason I stopped buying it. I picked up a 4 pack a couple of weeks ago and realized I should never stop buying this beer. It really is a great beer.

 

Cisco Grey Lady is a great alternative to Blue Moon IMO. Tasty, interesting & avail in 12 pack cans.

 

A witbier I enjoyed recently, although very pricey, was Moa's Blanc Evolution. I believe it's made with champagne yeast, and I enjoyed how that complemented the style. It's from New Zealand, so look for places with strong imported sections to find it.

 

For me at least, the difference comes through on the nose as much as if not more than the taste. They both have a yeasty nose, but witbiers usually smell sweet and more flowery, a bit like perfume or potpourri. Hefes seem a bit more diverse, with fruity, peppery, or clove notes. But with both the taste seems mostly led by the soft wheat mouthfeel and the other details more minor. But hey, there are exceptions to everything, so I'm only reflecting my own perceptions.

Anyway, the "white ale" style seems to have become somewhat generic mostly to mean an unfiltered wheat beer, which is where I'd put Blue Moon (or a Sam Adams White). So if the OP is looking for wheat beers more generally rather than just witbiers per se, try both classic styles and see what you prefer.

 

If you're looking for recommendations of items you will actually be able to buy, I recommend posting in the Mid-Atlantic forum. If it's just a general question/discussion point about something, that's what Beer Talk is for.

 

Weihenstephaner Hefe / Dunkel Hefe. Ayinger Brau-Weiss / Ayinger Ur-Weiss. Hoegaarden

 

Well all I can say is that they taste (and smell) wildly different to me. Witbier flavor profiles IME are dominated by citrus and coriander notes as much as wheat. Hefeweizens are primarily about clove and banana flavors. While you sometimes get some apple and pear in both beers and a faint secondary clove element sometimes appears in wits I find the differences far greater than the similarities. Even the wheat character and mouth feel of the two styles diverges. I would, however, concur that there tends to be more sweetness in both the nose and flavor of witbiers.