Fitgers 1100 Wheat Wine

Brewed by Fitgers Brewhouse
Style: Barley Wine
Duluth, Minnesota USA

Winterfest 20008. Strong what aroma with sweet spices. Wheat flavor in the caramel and spicy body.

On draught during the Winterfest 2008 as Bellsnickle Wheat Wine in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. Pours a semi-hazy orange-ish brown brew with a creamy off-white head that slowly disappears to a fine film and white ring. Aroma of light multi-grain malt, some raisins, mincemeat pie filling and a touch of yeast. Taste is medium bodied, plenty of alcohol character with flavors of white bread malt, raisins, some grassy hop character and a touch of yeast. Finish has a high alcohol character with aftertaste of sweet yeast, a touch of banana and some raisin. I still prefer the barley wines, but this one was interesting.

Im not a big wheat ale fan to begin with, but this was decent. Some citrusy bite, with a grass/grain aftertaste. There was a slight booze burn though that was a little rough

Winterfest 2008
Caramel and fruitcake aromas. This is my second wheat wine and I’m starting to think wheat wines just aren’t for me. They all seem to taste too alcoholic and finish a little too rough IMO.

Sampled draught at the Autumn Brew Review in Minneapolis, October 7 2006. The pour: dirty opaque brown with little head though what there is sticks around, very thick....the nose: sweet caramel, doughy bread; sort of like a Portuguese sweet bread with berries and dots of caramelized sugar...the flavor: very sweet, lots of caramel malts, faint bitter/burnt notes that creep in slowly but mushroom towards the finish, touches of molasses....very thick, something like cake batter in consistency with very little carbonation....raisiny hints grow with warmth. Quite nice though it gets to be a bit much and the small sample was certainly enough for one sitting.

ABR 2006. This was good but I didn’t like it as much as everyone else. I thought it was a barleywine while drinking it. The beer is well hopped in the aroma and flavor. There is some sugar, but dry, herbal, grassy flavors dominate.

On-Tap at the brewpub: Dark musty gold with a slight bronze shade. Small head of off-white foam sits breifly to kinda dull out to a few bubbles at the collar. Gooey lacing is strewn about in a few straggly strings and blobby patches. Big malt aroma of sweet oily fruit cocktail sauce squishing pineapple, mango, banana, dark orange, and pear, and red grapes within a slight rummy-like warmth drizzled with a light caramel and pinched with a creative grassy spice. Taste is just nice as the aroma. Big, fat, thick, and malt-a-lishous. Lots of tropical fruityness takes the palate within a warm, buttery soft ride of smooth succulant maltyness that drips all sorts of pineapple, pear, mango, orange, banana, caramel, and warmed sauces and juices from the fruit bowl from which it was soaked in rum and spiced with cinnamon and herbal grasses. Its a wowful ride of yummyness. Oh my, oh my, oh my...this stuff is heavenly thick and warm. So soft, creamy, full, saucy, and syrupy. Richly coating and everything nice. Like a warmed ice cream sunday. The warmth catches up to ya quick as you down it easily at first. But man this stuff is awesome! A fantastic beer from Fitger’s!

Tap Winterfest 2006.pours an apricot color with little carbonation.Taste rich and syrupy with some fruitiness and lots of caramel goodness. My favorite of the night.Close to a good Barley Wine but with a dash of earthiness.