Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer

Picked up a single 12-oz bottle from Cellars Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours a semi-clear golden pale colored brew with a thin white head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of golden grain malt, some banana esters, honey and a hint of lemon zest. Taste is light bodied, some extra carbonation with flavors of golden grain malt with wheat, some bread dough, lemon zest and a hint of banana esters. Finish is slightly dry with a tart lemon and golden grain aftertaste.

Sample at GABF 2009. Pours a straw yellow color with thin white head. Aroma is sweet and floral with notes of banana, honey, clove, light spice. Flavor is about the same. Medium body with a wheaty finish. Decent wheat beer.

Bottle. Small, fizzy, white head, rapidly diminishing. Gold body, hazy. The aroma displays notes of toasted grain, flowers and some lemon. The flavor is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. The finish is lightly sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Some tartness. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Not much character. Fairly bland. No complexity.

12 oz bottle, dated 9/18/09? (hard to read probably a bit old). Pours a hazy golden yellow with a big rocky white head that goes to a thin film that laces the glass some.

The aroma is subdued - wheaty malts and lemon with a little yeast.

The flavor is wheaty bready malts and some lemon with a little spice and some earthy yeast in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium to light bodied and kind of watery with very spritzy carbonation.

Overall, an OK wheat. Not much there, but it’s not bad.

Draft at Shiloh in Columbia, Missouri. Pours a hazy orange gold color with a medium white head that fizzes out relatively quickly. Aroma of orange citrus, wheat, and some malt and clove. Wheaty flavor, also with a good amount of orange citrus and malt, bread, and a dash of clove. Wheaty, bready mouthfeel and medium body. Served a bit too cold so the citrus was gentle and any other fruit and spice flavors may have been muted. This one gets a few notches more for me because it was always on special in the bar across from my apartment in college and was one of the few non-A-B beers my buddies and I would drink (and could afford).

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange/straw, with a thin head that quickly dissipates.Taste is a very wheaty, but a little boring. Honestly, I don’t mean this in a mean way, but the aroma reminds me of the smell of my vomit after a long night of drinking Keystone Light. I like what they’re going for here with it being unfiltered, but... I still don’t love it.

Sample at 9th Street Grill in Mt. Vernon, IL. The beer is a hazy light yellow color with a thin white head that disappears quickly. Spotty lacing on the glass. Mild wheat aroma with notes of tangy fruit. Light, smooth body with flavors of wheat, malt and fruit. The finish is clean and watery with a short fruity aftertaste. Overall pretty uninspired.

Well, I knew what I was getting into with the unfiltered part but, I didn’t expect the amount of crap I ran into. I was an OK beer that I felt like I was eating more than drinking.