 CaptBier (252), Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Jun 3, 2008
Bottle. Muddy deep orange color with a nice white head. Malty and wheat sweet aroma with hoppy and yeasty citric notes. Wheat sweet flavor with a light caramel note along a hoppy fruitiness. Light dry and hoppy finish with a vague sweet note. Tastes like a homebrew.
Sammy (3075), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sep 6, 2008 German hoppiness and long-lasting enormous head. Average plus mouthfeel. Drying.
I don’t think I enjoyed this as much as the S-B version, but maybe a bomber was too much.
drfabulous (712), Columbia, Missouri, USA
Sep 5, 2008 Mmm. Lots of wheat, fruit, citrus. This feels very traditional and much better than your average American. Well balanced and tasty.
kramer (1875), sunbury, Pennsylvania, USA
Sep 5, 2008 25 oz bottle, via Julio’s. Pours a gold body with a slight haze. Large frothy white head, vigorous carbonation. Grassy hops and hay hit the nose first, then some yeast derived spiciness, bready malt, and honey. The flavor is unusual to say the least. The combo of heavy bready and wheat malt plus the floral and grassy hops create a unique and flavorful beer. I’d like some more earthy yeastiness to balance the hops. I’m getting a slightly odd minty note on the finish from the hops. Rather alcoholic on the back end, which for some reason makes me think that it’s more apparent because of the lack of dark malts. Mouthfeel is full and sturdy with just a little clingy doughy wheat and lots of efforvescent carbonation. Overall, pretty nice, and a decent drinker, but I’m not totally sold on the pale Weizenbock style.
FlacoAlto (2103), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Sep 1, 2008 Bottle Number 0668; Sampled August 2008
A fairly careful pour into my 25cl tulip glass still produces a three-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The head has a very fluffy texture to it and it leaves a nice amount of lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer is a hazy, light amber hue that still shows a hazy, orange tinged, gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite vibrantly spicy with hop notes, but is still quite obviously a Hefeweizen too. Aromas of tropical fruit, ripe apricot and a spicy herbal note from the hops are backed by significant clove phenols as well as a touch of fruity banana that lies just underneath. Other notes of lemon zest, pale-whole-grain cracker notes, and a fresh crushed wheat aroma. I really like the mix of spicy notes that come from both the Palisade hops and the fermentation character; huge woody pepper aromatics, perhaps a touch of sweet pickled ginger, a touch rosemary / menthol.
Fairly sweet tasting, but much of this is accentuated by the fruity hop character that provides notes of bergamot, apricot and lots of tangelo. The ample hop flavors that are packed into this beer also provide flavors of minty pine, light herbal notes and a significant, herbal leaning bitterness. In the flavor the hop character is a lot more noticeable than it was in the aroma; how this is really manifest is that the Weizen flavors are a bit muted under the hop character. Traditional Weizen notes of clove are certainly the most prominent, but there is also a nice fresh wheat character that both adds texture and flavor, a touch of tartness typical of the style can also be noticed and there is just a hint of banana that seems to be noticeable in the lingering finish. This is quite well carbonated, but the viscous body does a good job of hiding this fact; really though the ample carbonation does a good job of balancing out the medium-heft that this beer has, such that this remains fairly quaffable (the hop character also seems to help with this too). This can get a little hot in the finish at times with a mix of spicy phenolics and higher alcohols, but it doesn’t seem to detract too much.
Quite tasty and I really like the vibrant hop character, despite it drowning out the yeast character a bit. This certainly retains the refreshing wheat character that is typical of a Hefeweizen; speaking of which, I really do see this as more of a strong Hefeweizen than a Weizenbock, as I usually associate that last with being darker and richer.
Dorwart (1603), Robbinsville, New Jersey, USA
Aug 31, 2008 750 mL bottle that says 8.5% ABV. Very large fluffy white head of rather large bubbles. Reduces to a sticky messy head with gobs of sticky lacing. Light citris and wheat notes. Some peaches and spicy yeast. Color is a hazy brownish orange. Zippy and lively in the mouth. Good bitterness up front that melds into some sweet malty notes in the middle. Light roastyness with plenty of spicy, yeasty notes. Pepper and corriander with a bit of orange. More bitterness late swallow from the very resinous hops. Finishes bitter yet slightly creamy and dry with some lingering yeast and wheat notes. A very good brew and one that I am enjoying quite a bit.
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