Iganosato Moku Moku Haru Urara

Bottle from the brewery. 7/3/8/4/16 Cloudy, light brown, murky or even muddy color with a tall, fine white head. Dark for a hefeweizen. Very buttery aroma of bananas, honey, some spice. Very sweet and fragrant nose. Smooth, creamy, buttery flavor, sweet but short of cloying, lots of banana and esters, a touch of citrus too. Finish is quite dry, with decent hops to round off the cake-like flavor, and again, a slight sour touch. I really like this beer, might not be able to drink tons, but it is creamy and flavorful.

10-May-08 (12-oz bottle: Free sample bottle for stewarding the 2008 World Beer Cup in San Diego, CA) Entered into the American Hefeweizen category, I see no resemblance, so that was either a mistake or an experiment. Very fruity nose, quite a lot of dustiness, some musty hay, showing a bit of tart fruits, some lemon. Tart aroma picks up more and more as I drink the beer. Very fruity flavor, but it’s a tart fruit, not sweet fruit, kind of a boxed apricot flavor with a sprinkle of lemon juice. Dusty hop character, light bitterness, modest earthiness, light citrus. Malts are somewhat lost here behind the tart fruitiness. Medium in body, medium-strong carbonation. Very hazy amber body is capped by a small, whitish head. Who knows what the brewery intended with this beer, but the fruity tartness is off-putting. Not offensive, it certainly doesn’t taste infected, but the sourness is just plain weird.

12 oz. bottle shared by DarkElf, from World Beer Cup 2008 - Entered in the American Hefeweizen category??? Pours cloudy amber with a small white head that diminishes quickly to a skin and ring. Very interesting aroma, slightly souring mango, forest floor and floral notes. Flavor is fruity, but in a tart and astringent way, dusty notes, a bit of cedar and a dry finish. Medium body, a bit chalky and gentle carbonation.

Bottled. Pale clear amber/orange with an off-white head. Citrus, spice and grass in the aroma. The taste is orange, malt and alcohol with a tiny bit of pine. This bottle was a left-over from WBC 2006. It was entered as an American Pale Ale, but there seems to be rather a lot of alcohol in this beer for a pale ale.