Atlantic Bar Harbor Summer Ale

Brewed by Atlantic Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Bar Harbor, Maine USA

My brother brings a wide array of New England micros back for me every summer and they range from great to boring, with the exception of this one, which is awful. Lightly hopped, lighly malted, reminds me of a San Miguel ... if anything thinner than a Bud, less hoppy than a Bud. No head, no lace, slightly bready aftertaste, but more nasty than interesting. Still, if I hunt I can find bread and citrus. But I won’t hunt any more. Nothing redeemig. Drain pour.

Any first impressions?
-A narrow ring of foam is soon created by the fizzy carbonation over the transparent, aqueous bronze.
-Weak cereals and dry minerals produce a shy, macro-like aroma.
-Anoxeric honeyed maltiness cannot muster enough personality to make me believe I’m not drinking a BudMillerCoors product.
-A very frail malt backbone, watery leanings, and frothy fizz evoke soda.

What if you dig deeper?
-Aftertaste is nearly non-existant; there are no defects to be found, but there aren’t many flavors either.
-Bready connotations can be found, in despair.
-The semblance of a minty hop flavor is buried within.
-I don’t know what gets on my nerves more: an infected product, or a purposely watered-down beer from someone who can brew better. This behavior just perpetuates the idea that "refreshing" has to be tasteless.

Bottle; best before date was not notched.

Draft @ brewery. Pours a hazy yellow with a small white head that recedes to a thin layer. Aroma yeasty, bready, a little citrusy. Mouthfeel light, slightly dry, lightly tingly. Tastes of fresh bread and slight lemony citrus. Finishes with just a touch of bitterness and pretty crisp. A little weak but not bad particularly when it’s very fresh like this.

Pours a hazy gold with a white head. Smells of light wheat and hay. It has a basic unfiltered sort of wheat flavor to it. Nothing special really going on here.

On draught at the brewery, 8/14/2005. Golden-amber-yellow with a white head that recedes to ring. Rather filtered and very clear. Smells of wheat, hay-like hoppiness, some floral notes. Orange-tea with honey. Flavor is warm biscuits and honey, fairly gritty/chewy wheatiness. Bready/doughy as well with a fairly strong yeastiness on the end. Dry, slight astringency in the middle with only a touch of caramel. Moderate carbonation, large bubbles. Light, farmy hops add a touch of bitterness on the end. Cornbread and milkiness from the malted wheat. Medium-light body.

Pours gold with a thin white head. When I asked the server what this beer tastes like prior to serving, he told me it was somewhat similar to Gumballhead. A very bold statement if way off. Smelled of grapefruit. Tasted of wheat and hops. Not their best offering. Maybe after they’ve tweaked the recipe a bit.

On tap at the brewery. Clear golden color with a ring of white lace. Aroma and flavor of citrus. Light and creamy palate.

At the brewery they told me this is an experimental beer this summer. They’re trying to see if there’s a market for it, if so they’ll offer it in bottles at some point. Personally I think this needs reformulation. It’s too wheaty and watery for Atlantic. A good brewery like this should add a bit more bittering hops and this could be a much better summer.