Bells Oberon Ale

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

Bottle, batch 7326. Pours a cloudy yellow straw with a moderate creamy off-white head. Aroma of wheat, banana, and some spicy hops. The bananas come though slightly in the taste, as the wheat is dominant, hops make a short appearance, and has a sweet, biscuity finish. I picked up some citrus somewhere in there as well. Pretty good American wheat.

Bright ,thick, cloudy yellow with a medium head (off tap). Nose is wheat, passion fruit, lighter citrus, maybe papaya. Pleasure on the palate, super refreshing, perfect amount of carbonation. Taste begins with strong wheat and bready notes and bursts into citrus and light tropical fruit flavors with slight alcohol presence in the abrupt saaz hop end. From the big sun tapper, it is a perfect refresher and can go head to head with the best American saisons and the lighter American wheat ales!

Another very refreshing, easily accessible beer that, given half a chance should be able to convert some macro-only drinkers...

Draft, at KBC, Oct. 20, ’03. Cloudy, good color but no real head. Lemony flavor, certainly spritzy and refreshing. KBC’s taproom, the "Eccentric Cafe," though, leaves a little to be desired. Exposed brick just makes it seem cold, not much crowd (of course it was football Sunday and they had no TV). Seemed to be run by artsy college students.
Re-rate: Draft, 2006. I found this on tap at Wishbone, a Cajun restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop, right across from Oprah’s studios, as it turns out. Was able to enjoy it much better here. Nice orange body again, very hoppy and spicy nose. The first taste hits both Saaz and lemony flavor of a wheat beer. My impression is revised upward.
Bottled. Aug. 18, 08. Batch #8613 My first "official" Bell’s purchased since they came back to Illinois: Pours amber-yellow with a fizzy white head. Smell of lemon with a touch of cider, some yeast. Hazy. Toasty malt and wheat flavor, a little citrus taste. Lacks the spiciness I find with other American wheat beers. Orange character arises later on. No distinct hop impressions. Actually a little heavy for summer swilling, but I just bought this sixpack in mid-August; it’ll settle in nicely for fall.

Yeast cloud this deep golden hued summer refresher. Topped with a modicum of clean sharp white head, lacing acceptable. Aroma of apples, pears, and plums...backed with light yeast and wheat. Crisp. Sugary sweet across the toungue, spreading out into a cool, oily and extremely refreshing wheat. Leaves a fresh lemony smack on the palate. Clean and smooth. When it’s hot, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Courtesy dsnowden. Thanks Dan. Pours a yeasty orange with a small white head. Smells of wheat, citrus, yeast, and orange peel. Slightly fruity and sweet. The taste has a lot of wheat and yeast in it. A touch of some cinnamon and orange citrus round out the flavors. Pretty full flavored for a wheat beer. Nice crisp taste. Good summer beer.

Extremely cloudy tangerine colored juice in color with a thin, creamy head. Doughy, lemony, citrusy nose with a light hint of orange, which may smell more like cheap tang. Raw, hearty wheat with a bit of skunk and spoiled fruits. Hoppy for an American wheat, with spicy, floral notes. Pretty full-bodied and creamy for a wheat beer. Not good, at all.

The first American Wheat I’ve had in a long time and I’m glad it was Bell’s (who in my eyes rarely do wrong). Pours a hazy gold with a frothy short lived head. Aroma of wheat and a little citrus. Tastes like a good pale lager drunk out of a glass that used to have orange juice in it. Doesn’t sound appealing, but it works.