Church-Key Cranberry Maple Wheat

Brewed by Church-Key Brewing
Style: Fruit Beer
Pethericks Corners, Canada

On tap at the brewery. Appearance: Amber orange, small white head. Aroma: Cranberry for sure, some strawberries and wheat. Flavour: Quite sweet and malty, some cherry and cranberry, almost ’cooler’ like, not a bad little tipple.

341 bottle from 6-pack purchased at brewery. Pours light gold with thin white head. Strong berry smell. Fairly strong berry taste with a dry finish. All in all a decent summer beer.

A fine looking hazy wheat ale with an aroma of jolly ranchers and it tastes okay but is reminiscent of a bagful of artificially flavoured halloween suckers floating around in an okay american wheat. Sorry CK I love you and this beer is well made but I don’t get it. It’s like a girl drink.

341 ml bottle - pours a clear medium gold colour with very little head. Aroma is mainly fruitiness with cherry upfront, some cranberry, and a hint of green apple. Flavour a bit strange - a bit too saccharine and not much maple at all. I guess cranberry is in there, but the whole thing kind of reminded me a bit of cherry fluoride. A decent grainy presence in the body saves this one from being completely ridiculous. Didn’t get much wheat. First Church-Key brew I’ve had that I’ve been slightly disappointed by. Oh well, I guess there had to be one.....interesting experiment though.

Bottled sample via gregclow. Light gold in colour with fairly strong carbonation. Aromas of cherry, some cranberry, a bit of lemon, herbs, and some light sweet malts. Some tart cranberry flavors, along with some very mild maple notes. There’s an odd artificial sweetner flavor there too that just doesn’t work for me. The body is very thin, and there just doesn’t seem like a whole much else going on.

This wheat beer poured a light cloudy yellow colour with a frothy white head. To the nose was a full blow of fruit. Almost medicine like, cough syrup to be exact. Very hard to get around the sweet cranberry smell. Swedish berries come to mind. First sip is sweet and all I can taste is the cranberries. Still reminds me of cough syrup with a beer base. At least its not as sweet as some other fruit beer I’ve had before. This beer is a one bottle per day beer, I don’t think I could handle any more.

On Tap at the Castle Tapped a pale gold with a light hazed shimmer to it...1 finger white cap does not last too long but does lace the glass well. Pungent aromas of cranberry but not synthetic or perfumery, undertones of sweetness and some grass. Front side makes an impression like a wheat biscuit with cranberry sauce on it then mid palate the maple shows ...good hop character accents the tart cranberry...finish is incredible...dry and tart from the wheat and cranberry working together some maple tones...almost puckering dryness. A summer deck beer...not a girly drink but I’m sure it will appeal to the ladies...well put together...flavors blend in proportion and give a decent amalgamation....good solid summer beer effort from a great micro.

[301-20070509] 341mL (c/o tupalev). Wheatie fruit aroma. Golden body, quick head. Very nice sweet maple wheat flavour, strawberry cranberry, not tart. Medium body, good smoothness. Very nicely blended, pretty fruity. (7/3/7/3/14) 3.4

[1324B-20080503] Tap. Sweet cranberry and fruit cherry corn syrup. Clear, orange body with a medium-lasting foamy white head. Sweet fruity cranberry cherry flavour. Medium body. Really nice aroma. (8/3/7-/3/13) 3.4
(@ Church Key; Campbellford, ON)