Carmel Wheat Beer

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Hopland, California USA

12 oz bottle poured into pint glass. Clear piss/apple juice color with a bit of chill haze. Thin fizzy white head that fades to a sickly smattering of froth. Diacetyl aroma with a sweet butteriness and possibly some corn? No hallmark wheat notes. Flavor is essentially carbonated diacetyl with a grainy undercurrent. High carbonation, thin body. Not recommended.

12oz bottle from Bottles ’n Bins. Pours clear, light orange copper color with a very thin fizzy white head, no retention, no lace. Smells sweet and malty citrusy, oranges and a little peach. Somewhat syrupy fake smelling. Tastes citrusy and fruity sweet, again peaches and some orange. Caramel malt flavor on the finish. Thin body, fizzy carbonation.

Not one of the best Mendo’s put out. Pours a golden color not super hazy as a proper wheat should be, funky white head. Weak nose of wheat and lemony. The taste is a little thin also. Some wheat and lemon, but almost watered down. Not worth much of anything except a good lawnmower beer served really f’ing cold~

Bottle. The label says hefeweizen, and the label is wrong. Absolutely no phenolic aromas, completely clear, and no wheat character. Smells of corn and, distinctly, wet dog. I’d rate this as a bad pilsener, but the labeling shenanigans drop the already-low score.

Had this on draft while traveling through Carmel, CA this summer. Served with a lemon wedge, hazy golden color with a medium sized head. Mild wheat aroma. The light wheat flavor was decent and complimented my fish tacos nicely. Nothing spectacular, but decent nonetheless.

(Bottle) Wow. After reading the other reviews, it’s hard to believe that I was drinking the same beer. This beer is very original tasting and is quite good, at least to me. Rich, dark colour, with little head. Wheaty aroma, very light texture, without being thin. A metallic taste emerges, like in German beers--not at all unpleasant. Refreshing: easily the most refreshing wheat beer I’ve ever had. Less of the fruity aroma characteristic Hefeweizens...it says "Hefeweizen" on the label but I think that is not an accurate claim...only a hint of that aroma emerges from time to time. Although it is not particularly thick or rich, there is a sort of warmth and graininess to the flavour that is absent from many wheat beers. At the same time, it lacks the sourness that ruins many American-made wheat beers. I really like this one. It is not only a good beer, but it is quite unique, unlike any other.

Crystal clear golden amber body with a super-thin white head. Aroma of light malt, caramel, cardboard and a tiny amount of coriander seed. Medium-bodied; Light malt taste with some cardboard, corn, rice and odd funky sweetness. Aftertaste shows some gross corn and malt tastes with a artificial sweetness and not much else. Overall, a pretty bad offering - the sweetness takes it over the top, but in a bad way - not good! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Trader Joe’s in San Francisco (North Beach), California on 11-April-2008.

Drank it in Carmel, CA. Pours a hazy golden with very little head and carbonation. Light bodied, watery, some hops undertones.