Ithaca Excelsior! White Gold

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ithaca, New York USA

Batch #E!005 Appearance: Big fluffy wheat head, pure white. Gorgeous golden color that’s only slightly hazy. Aroma: Floral hops, belgian yeastiness.. standard tripellish aroma: Fruity, hint of sour apple. Flavor: Initial bitter tang. Followed by what seems a mix of a good, belgian golden ale and a wheat ael that’s almost approaching a steam ale in some of it’s hop/malt mixture subleties. And a bit like apfelwein. Very clean, palatable, dry as hell but let’s loose a solid flavor on the tongue. Very mellow for so much flavor. This is a great drinking beer. Mouthfeel: fully carbed, and "bone dry" as mentioned. Overall: Excellent wheat beer. An american wheat mixed with a belgian golden/tripel. Very pleasant combination for sure.

I purchased a 740 mL bottle on a hunch that something called "white cold" would be in-line with some of the beer styles that I like. And I was not wrong! I’ve been wrong in the past, but this time I got lucky :) I’m a big fan of GOOD wheat beers (I can’t stand weak ones) so it’s a love/hate for me where wheats are concerned. And a pleasant bonus is the ABV in this beer The beer pours a nice golden hue with a small head that quickly dissipates. Minimal lacing and a nice cloudy wheat opaque-ness. Not many bad things to say about this beer, and it’s definitely a high-quality wheat. Above average in terms of taste and drinkability, with no empty aftertaste that some wheats can cause. I was very satisfied with the mouthfeel and flavor- not too strong not too light. I would rank this up there with some of my other favorites, Franciscaner and Weihenstephaner.

Bottle #466 released April 2007. Poured into a weizen glass, the beer forms an enormous 4 finger head. Color is part honey part sparkling apple juice. Really fluffy white head leaves lots of lacing. Aromas of overripe apple, sweet malt, booziness, honey. Smooth wheat flavors but more apple than banana. Floral hoppiness, a bit tangy. Nice warm and sweet finish. Stellar carbonation and lots of wheat make this extremely smooth and drinkable.

Rated while drinking: Pours a caramel cider hazy color with a fluffy white head. There is some insane lacing going on in this glass. True to it’s name sake, so far this beer looks like ’white gold’. Heavy wheat aroma followed by a snap of yeast, backed by some banana and clove elements. Incredible fresh wheat in the mouth, followed by flavor notes of spices and more Trappist yeast at the end. Quite Belgian-like! Crisp and smooth on the palate... very drinkable for this type of beer. Another great beer from Ithaca. These Excelsiors are superb and Ithaca should be extremely proud!

Tasting at JW77’s. Pours a cloudy yellowish/gold with a nice light head. Aroma is wonderful. Complex with wheat, yeast, spices and some citrus. Flavor is smooth and really nice. Great mouthfeel to go along with the wheat, yeast, spice and light hops. Good stuff.

Pours cloudy gold with one inch head of white fluff. A slow retreat revealed some stringy lacework and a solid skim coat throughout the glass. Aromatics lead off with ripe fruit, light bubblegum and cloves, yeast-dusted dough, and a hint of lemon. A blend of peaches, bannana, mangoe, apricot, and yeasty esters. Some faint pineapple skins and sugared orange segments round out the nose. On the light side of medium bodied and creamy. A very rounded, soft mouthfeel indeed. Tropical fruit, light malt, and clovey overtones start the palate. Peach fuzz, pineapple skins, and dried apricots mingle with twist of lemon zest, fresh cut hay, and peppery spice. Finishes with soft fruit overtones, light malt, and yeasty goodness. Very much Belgian in character, with light notes of Brett starting to come forward. With cellaring the brett should step forward, but the fresh and fruity character will fade. This one is damn tasty and way under the radar peeps!

Tap at Barcade’s Upstate Beer Night: I’m not sure if I liked this so much because it’s actually that good, or it was just far superior to the other crap I had been drinking that evening. Pours a nice hazy light golden with a strong dense white head that retains well. Bretty aroma- nice citrus zest (Saaz hops), peppery earthiness, fresh wheaty note and some underlying dried bread crust. Nice and crisp on the palate. fresh peppery flavors with a clean wheat malt crispness- slightly citric with a soft lemon character- brett-like dryness and a white pepper/Saaz spiciness into the finish. I really enjoyed the pour I had.

750 ml bottle. Pour is hazy gold with wisps of tiny white bubbles in tight swirls and a ring of white cream. Aroma is citrus, yeast, actually wheaty in character but definitely Belgian. It has the wheat and citrus of a Belgian white, but the sweetness of the tripel is also evident. Thankfully the alcohol heat I have come to expect from lesser tripels is absent. Not bad at all. Very easy to drink.