Dark Horse Sapient Summer Wheat

Bottle. Cloudy amber with small white head and lots of particles swimming around. Aroma was of a damp forest, some apple, bits of old wheat. Medium bodied. Very earthy flavor. Too much so. Perhaps past its prime.

Bottle courtesy of ClarkVV (if you ever need an organ, Clark, you’ve earned your pick.) Muddy, completely cloudy and caramel-orangish-brown in color with a creamy, fluffy, whipped khaki head. Fresh bakery bread, cloves, jaded pepper and flour-dusted potato rolls conjure up the main aroma contributions while a mild background accent of countertop coriander cackles in the rear. Lemon spray over hardened sourdough crust registers first for flavor. Strange crested pils malt lends a bite while gardenias and a small floral hop presence transfer its qualities to a greener rendition. Husky and musky, with thyme and coriander subconsciously scratching away. Creamy effervescence is perfect, but there’s a soapy citric shine in its recession. Interesting malt bill and perhaps an ill-selected hop schedule. Flower petals, starch, linen spray and crusty baguettes bring things to a close. Not the brewery’s finest hour, but still an honest rendition.

Bottle courtesy of SuIIy: Pours a lightly effervescent copper bronze with a pillowy, well-lacing off-white head. Aroma of soft buttery malted wheat with a touch of oxidation. Starts with a thin, semi-sweet bready maltiness with a faded hint of coriander and citrus. Finishes thin, dry and with some lingering black pepper. Pretty interesting brew, but most likely past its prime.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with Sully, thanks Mike!) Received this retired gem yesterday, drinking it today. Wow, if all "Summer Wheat" beers looked like this, I might like the style a lot more. But I have to think this this bottle has seen significant aging, probably over 18 months, as it tastes and smells fairly woodsy and earthy, slightly oxidized. No way a summer wheat should be earthy like this. A mild wheat base peeks out from under the long-fallen trees. Moderate apple skin is the other significant flavor here. Not getting much in the way of spiciness, maybe a tad of pepper. Body is light-medium and carbonation is very good. Very cloudy, dark golden color, made even murkier by significant particles of all sizes, and there is plenty more where that came from (i.e., the bottom of the bottle). Tall, bubbly, off-white head rises to nearly an inch, taking many minutes to settle to a wide ring. Patchy lacing is deposited on the glass. It’s decent, but only because I tend to like some earthiness in my beers, though the apple skin flavor gets on my nerves after awhile. But if I were buying beer at a package store and bought a sixer of this because I was craving a summer wheat, I would be bitterly disappointed when I opened the first bottle.

12oz bottle. Pours a dark orangish/ligh tamber color with a white frothy head and lots of bubbles zoomin to the top. Lodas of miniscule sediment swirls around the bottom of the glass. Nose is very sweet and malty, lightly spicy, soem cherrys and apples are involved. A very ful body that finishes with some fizziness int eh back of the throat. Some dried sweet fruits, apricots, apples, lightly malty, sticky finish on the palate.