Mendocino Summer Ale

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Hopland, California USA

Brown 12 oz bottle. Pop the lid for an odd old leather aroma. Good wheat smells and attractive bouquet. Pour is cloudy and light like a wheat beer. Swirling and attractive hazy show. Has gunk on the bottom of the bottle. Has an interesting particled head and froth for a topper. Very creamy initial hit on the palate from good small fine bubble carbonation. Lovely wheat flavors. Fine example of a well brewed wheat style beer. Happy, friendly and fun to be with, no alky apparent while drinken. Finish is a little flat but that’s OK considering the other senses firing. No bitter hints can be found. Easy to drink. Perhaps not as refined as a witbier should be but certainly better than the typical wheats or hefes.

12 oz. bottle. Smelled ok. Looked horrible, fizzy head, that fully diminished, gold body. Sweet lemon and orange in the beginning but skunky and weak in the finish. Tasted like a crappy beer with some lemon and orange flavor added.

Bottle in Hoegaarden glass. Pours very cloudy very pale orange/yellow, like grapefruit juice with a nice white head, lasting with some lace. Aroma of lemon juice with some bready yeastiness and wheat tanginess. Flavors of tangy unmalted wheat, lemon, and mild spice, with a little bitterness, but not really too much, in the finish. Medium-light body, medium-high carbonation, make this very refreshing. I’ve been checking different white beers because our local store is out of Hoegaarden, and Hoegaarden in being absorbed by Bud so I’ll need a replacement. I didn’t expect to like this one, but this is pretty damn good.

Rated 5/25/07: Light yellow color with a sparkling white head. I swirled the yeast and dropped it in thus giving the beer a golden yellow murkiness. Faint wheat aroma with lemon, banana, and spices. I felt this beer was overcarbonated and the mouthfeel was both sour and sweet. Unclean finish, it’s just too tacky. Decent wheat content some flavors of oranges and lemons. I could detect an odd off flavor near the end of each sip. Overall it’s pretty bland and unbalanced for a wit, just not too exciting.

Bottle; typical murky, watered-down lemonade look with a small head. Aroma is estery wheat and yeast, juicy fruit gum, and some subtle spices. Thank God the taste is the same! Body is a nice light-medium. This is a great Belgian Wit; not too much of the dry, tart citrus flavor or watered-down sweetness that makes me hate most American wheats. NIce carbonation tingle on the front and smooth afterwards. Excellent wit that tastes like a good, fresh draft Hoegaarden. Bottled Hoegaarden only wishes it could be this good when shipped across the Atlantic! This one and the winter stout seasonal are by far the best Mendocino brews I have sampled, and the only ones I would purchase again.

Pours a hazy light yellow with small particles and a large frothy white head. The nose is heavy on coriander with a wheat and citrus backing. Light and thin, it finishes chalky and astringent; not a great combination. The flavor is of sour citrus, coriander and a solid wheat. Finishing phenolic and astringent, I was not pleased. A fan of Witbiers, I’ve sampled many. This one is toward the bottom of the list.

Bottle. Maybe it caught me in a foul mood, but I didn’t particularly care for this one. The aroma is flat out aweful. Dirty dishwater that gives off a bit of a clove/coriander scent. Maybe even a little more septic than dishwater. Pours a hazy light straw color and has little head to speak of. Flavor is a little better, but still, rather bland. There are cloves and wheat in there, but nothing really exciting except for a hint of lemon peels now and then. Mouthfeel is light, but strangely oily at the same time. I thougth this would be a little more interesting, but it is fairly directionless.

Not bad - nice citrusy flavor. Refreshing, cloudy with some carbonation. Good for a hot summer day.