Bristol Beehive Honey Wheat

Brewed by Bristol Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

This beer is an American Wheat beer by style, which is brewed with the addition of Colorado Springs honey. Now I know what a lot of seasoned beer drinkers are thinking; “just another wimpy American wheatie”. Wrong answer my friends. This beer isn’t a faux hefeweizen, or a run of the mill “light” offering from a microbrewery, Beehive is an outstanding beer, just packed with character and flavor. It is brewed with two row barley, Munich, and wheat malts, hopped with Chinooks and Mount Hood hops, and a generous amount of local honey is added to the boil. Coming in at only 3.5% abv, it is the type of beer you could drink quite a few of, and is one that surely will slake your thirst after hiking some mountain trails. Beehive Honey Wheat pours to a beautiful, opaque, deep honey gold color, with a tall, thick, rocky white head, and a lively carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic, with crisp wheat aromas, sweet malty aromas, and some sweet honey aroma as well. The palate on this beer is firm, with lots of good sweet malty flavors, paired with some tart wheat character. The body on this beer has more malt brawn than most American wheat beers, and the honey adds another dimension to this beer, with a sweet undertone that plays against the malt character. Beehive finishes with more sweet malt and wheat flavors up front, and then ends with a slight honey sweetness that lingers. This is a fantastic beer, probably the most impressive “honey wheat” I have ever tasted. I enjoyed this one fresh on draught, and was very impressed with it. No wimpy wheatie here, you can really sink your teeth into this beer, it has a firm body, some real honey character, some refreshing wheat character, and with the low alcohol, a beer you can enjoy a few of.

I’m a little spoiled when it comes to getting Beehive fresh, it tastes twice as good when you drink it at the brewery. I love most of Bristol’s brews, visit the place at least once a week.

Bottle. A heavy honey wheat bread smell. A great mild bodied wheat ale with a nice touch of honey.

On tap at Bristol in Co Springs. Cloudy yellow/orange color. Lemon wedge over powers everything. Medium body. Easy to drink. Light sweetness. Low bitterness.

Pours cloudy golden. Nice smell of wheat and honey as advertised. Taste is strongly wheaty and not too sweet, but with a pleasant honey like maltiness. Slightly rich mouthfeel and really pretty good I thought for what I was expecting of a honey wheat.

Bottle - flat and bland across the board. You're not getting the "real thing". Draft - much more interesting. Decent head, nice and light, subtle blend of citrus flavors, only very slightly hoppy. Commonly served in bars with a fully squeezed lemon wedge (which is subsequently tossed into the glass) which unfortunately overpowers the flavor of the beer itself. If you're ever in Colorado in the summertime (it's not nearly as palatable during the cold winter months there) and see this on tap then give it a shot and do yourself a favor - only half squeeze the lemon they give you, then toss it into the trash can, not the glass!

In the bottle from LiquorMax. Pours a hazy gold with a thick white head of considerable staying power. This aroma is surprisingly more honey-like than I would have imagined. Solid sweet honey flavor in a quick and crisp-finishing beer. Very pleasant and generous in their use of honey as opposed to most "honey" beers that fail to deliver.

I consider honey beers to be a separate category, and this beer, with its very thick cloudy appearance is nice. Probably the second best honey beer I’ve had, next to Beerman’s, but is lighter and more easily drinkable. Also the only one I would consider having again.