Marin Star Brew Triple Wheat Ale

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Larkspur, California USA

Hooray. After having those two Ridgeways, it was a relief to drink this. Pours cloudy amber-orange. Big off-white head. Caramel, dates, figs, wheat, honey, and bread/dough in the nose. Hops and dough in the taste, with that nice barleywine caramel mixing nicely with the wheat. Citrus and sugar in the finish. The alcohol is well-masked. A great beer.

JJPM’s gathering - summer 07. Bomber. Pours a lightly hazy- Protien haze? medium to light amber with good head. Aroma is sweet doughy wheat, tangy and somewhat stale fruity and grassy hops. More herbal hops int eh flavor along with nice wheat malt doughiness, fresh bread- but sharp, and some good caramel sweetness. Finsih is nice and smooth with a good hoppy bitterness. Seemed grassy and herbal all the way through though.

Bomber from Bottle Barn; says 9.2%; Nose of caramel, wheat, toffee,vanilla, and light fruits; hazy copper with a medium off-white head; flavor opf caramel, figs, vanilla, some light hops, and light alcohol.

An initially three-finger thick, dirty, tan colored head sits atop a somewhat hazy, copper colored brew. The head leaves lots of frothy lacing on the surface of my tulip glass as it slowly recedes. This is definitely a bit thick as the carbonation bubbles are noticeably slowed as they work they way up through the body of the beer. Dusty grain notes greet my nose at first, but then a distinct tropical fruit note of kiwis and juicy-fruit is noticed. This last, unfortunately, fades pretty quickly and I am left with notes of caramelized malt, chewy bread aromas and biscuit like aromas. The aroma is fairly simplistic, focusing most on clean grain notes.

Sweet tasting up front, and quite a bit hoppier than the aroma suggested. A substantial bitterness (noticeable from beginning to end) as well as a nice herbal hop flavor and a touch of menthol. The flavor is actually dominated by the hop character, but there is still a significant malt (both wheat & barley) presence here; flavors of honey, stale bread crust, toffee, some lemon like notes from the wheat (though the hop notes likely influence this as well). The finish is a mix of dusty malt / toasty grain notes and a malt sweetness that doesn’t quite beat back the lingering, slightly astringent bitterness.

The aroma of this brew was pretty drab and I wish that the ample hop character from the flavor had shown up some in the nose. An enjoyable brew; I want to say that this is overly simplistic, but that is what a wheat-wine is; clean wheat and malt flavors with a varying level of hop character. Still this is definitely lacking something; it needs a bit more character before I could really, really enjoy it.

Pours a hazy golden orange with a slight head. Nose is bready and malty. Flavor is breadlilke sweetness, with a slight bitter finish. I actually raised my rating as I drank this beer, as it kept getting better and better. Nice beer.

Name: Star Brew
Date: 05/04/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Vintage: 2621

opaque yellow, scant head, sweet hoppy aroma, light body, nice sweet malt flavor, sweetness takes over after a while

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 3/10; Flavor: 3/10; Palate: 4/10; Overall: 7/20
Rating: 2/5.0
Score: *+/4
-------- /> Name: Star Brew
Date: 01/27/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cask Eve, 2006
Vintage: 2810

hazy yellow, whispy white head, sweet carmel malt aroma with nice floral hops, light body, great hop flavor on a slightly sweet malt base, nice bitter finish, more of an IPA with no real wheat character

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 4/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.8/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Apricot haze color; subtle wheat dough and melon rind aroma. Strong alcohol, melon rind, spice and bitter flavors. Rich, full bodied and bitter finish. Update: 12/9/07 I have a fresh bottle and it’s darn tasty. The alcohol is not so strong but there’s some lovely big malt flavors with candy sugar and a nice hop bitterness. Really tasty, smooth but big flavors. Lots of floaties also.

22 oz bomber. Deep yellow pale in color with a nice fluffy white head. Hoppy and very malty aroma. Caramel grapefruit and clove notes. Malty caramel and hoppy flavor. Piney citrusy notes. Sweet. Nice bitter finish. Medium bodied. Nice beer. Very drinkable.