Baron Uber-Weisse

Brewed by Baron Brewing & Lunar Brewing
Style: Weizen Bock
Seattle, Washington USA

Bomber shared by Enniskillen. Nose of banana, chocolate, buttery popcorn, and a smoky note. Cloudy dark brown with a medium beige, gflass lacing head. Flavor of chocolate, diacetyl, slight sweetness, light bitterness, and smoky wheat. Without the diacetyl I would have scored it 4+, it bothered me more in the nose than the taste.

On tap at Latona. Pours dark brown with a small off-white head. Spicy, yeasty banana nose, with some smoky wheat that shows up more in the taste. Medium to full body with a smoky, roasty finish.

Dark brown with a red hue and a creamed top. Intriguing mix of German wheat yeast, wheat, and light roastiness in the nose topped off by a touch of banana. Flavor is full of wheat and phenolics with prominent chocolate banana presence, balanced nicely by heavy, musky clover. Full-bodied mouthfeel. A different take on the weizenbock, which I enjoyed.

Bomber poured a clear dark brown with garnet highlights a nd a lasting creamy tan head. Aromas of carmel, wheat, fruittiness and spice. Palate was light bodied and smooth with a watery finish. Flavors of carmel, wheat, light fruittiness and a hint of spice with a smooth watery bittersweet finish. One of the worst Weizen bocks I have ever had, what a dissapointment!

A fairly solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass yields an almost three-finger thick, lightly browned, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite dark, almost black with perhaps a touch of purple / brown to it; when held up to the light the beer shows a lightly hazy, dark plum-purple color. As I pour this the characteristic Weizen notes of banana and clove are noticed, but are wrapped up in a rich, sweet, caramelized malt character. A more focused look at the aroma does not seem quite as decadent and produces scents of toasted / roasted grain, a touch of raisin, some acidic burnt grain notes, a touch of Dr. Pepper and some light prune. The aroma is a bit less rich than I had hoped, but is still pretty decent.

Lightly tart up front, but then gets even more tart through the finish as an acid character from the roast malt kicks in. The beer is quite dry with almost zero sweetness and the body is even pretty darn light; this drinks like a beer that is far lower in alcohol. The roast malt plays a pretty big role here with notes of cold black coffee, well toasted grain, a touch of burnt chocolate and some bitter roast grain. At times flavors of banana are noticeable in almost a phantom like way; it comes and goes and seems to be more induced by the aroma than the flavor. There is actually some sweetness here that is accentuated by flavors of prune / plum, clove and banana, but it gets so quickly overwhelmed by the acidic, roast grain character that it is too fleeting to be really enjoyed.

I don’t think this is infected (being so dry and tart one might think that), as it does not really have any off flavors. It is quite an interesting interpretation of the style though, one that just doesn’t quite work for me. I would really like to see more rich malt / grain character here, a bit of sweetness (though not too much) would also help to balance the roast character that comes off as a bit too harsh here. In a word, unbalanced. Not horrible though, as all the right flavors seem to be here, just not at the right level / intensity.

Purchased: Liquid Solutions

Bottle from Liquid Solutions in Portland. Dark brown color with a decent multifinger light tan head. Aroma is acetic honey? Medium body with creamy carbonation. It’s tart. Dark roasted grain, a bit chalky. Banana now & then. Finishes dry and clean. Dark chocolate notes. Seeems to be spicy hop as well, or perhaps light clove.

Wheat toast, roast malt maple aromas. A managed sourness with notes of chocollate & green apple. Opaque dark brown with dark tan head thin but lingering

pours a dark brown with a ruby head when held to the light, thin tan head.
smell of molasses, cocoa, wheat, hint of caramel.
taste is thick, dark fruit, caramel, chocolate, bread dough, finishes dry with a just a little touch of bitterness.