Bells Oberon Ale

Brewed by Bells Brewery
Style: Wheat Ale
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

A top 2% american wheat, very clean and doesn’t taste overly wheaty, which I like. Has a medium body. Hop character is fairly understated but there’s mild spiciness there. Hazy copper color, smallish head.

Cloudy orange in colour. Aroma of sugar, slight hops, peaches and some yeast. Flavour started sweet, turning to hops with a medium bitterness. Finishes smooth, creamy and a quick bitterness.

Pours a hazy golden/yellow - very active carbonation. Aroma is of musty apricot and smooth wheat - very nice combination. Taste is smooth wheat walt with apricot tones. Very rich buttery mouthfeel with noticable carbonation. Very nice lacing on the glass. As it gets further down the glass banana flavors come out and a bit of astringecny. Very nice enjoyable beer.

bottle - I’ve had Oberon before, but never rated it, so since I had it again tonight I will. Wheat aroma with a little citrus. The flavor is very sweet with a hint of citrus and no discernable hops flavor, but IMO could have used a bit more hops and citrus notes. This is a very easy to drink beer. I just don’t think I was totally into a sweet beer tonight and it lacks complexity.

Draught: Poured a yellow with white color head. The aroma is wheat and slight fruit. Taste follows with that wheat and fruit, very pale ale balance and feel.

This beer pours beautiful and hypnotizing from a 12 oz bottle into a big clear steeler mug. Don’t you just love that swirling yeast stream in there from the bottom of the bottle? This stuff had chunks of yeast in it like I’ve never seen! The aroma is uncooked bread dough yeasty somewhat like a wheat beer but without spices. Some sweetness in the olfactory that I cannot identify. There is a ring around the inside of the mug that almost passed as a head. Taste is strong with what is attempting to be, but never quite reaches, the alky impact of a high alky content brew. Nice continuing aroma. The taste is a bit bitter, more so than other hefes I’m familiar with. Not as good in flavor as Harpoon UFO, Shiner Hefe or Sammy Adams Hefe. Maybe somewhat like Arcadia Wheatsun or JW Dundee’s Hefe. Finish is medium bitter on the uvula, has some alky bite. One would think the alky is higher than what is listed here from the flavor.

Pours cloudy dark yellow with a tall lasting white head. The aroma was fruity with an acidc sharpness. Sweet, tangy flavor, with some dryness in the finish. I prefer German Hefes, this isn’t bad if you like the American style.

Aha, another wheat I have yet to try. My mouth waters in anticipation. Then I am presented with a 12 oz brown bottle with a label that could easily have been drawn by any elementary school special needs class participant. Ah well, looks can be deceiving. The beer pours a very cloudy golden color with a large white head. Hmmm - looking up I would say. The strong scent of citrus and wheat is prominent. The scent wafts across the barroom table. Strong orange and wheat flavor fairly erupts upon the tongue. The aftertaste is sweet and citrusy. My wife fights me for the remainder of the glass. We head for home and immediately purchase a case for private consumption. This is easily one of the better wheat beers I have encountered.