Mendocino Summer Ale

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

New rerate. Turbid yellow beer boasts a two-finger stark white head. Musty lemon/orange, hay, coriander, and white bread aromas; further reflection suggests white peach and candied ginger as well. Unexpectedly and pleasantly dry, with restrained phenols and tartness... spicing is very subtle with only a little peppery-orange coming through in the flavor. There is a definite element of brett barnyard funk that comliments the beer nicely. Lightish palate has a powdery texture and CO2 sting. Although I can take or leave the witbier style, this year’s is an impressive example.*****Original rating 2005; 6/2/8/2/15/3.3: One of two west coast "summer" beers on the shelves this week, thanks to K-town’s diligent distributors (sarcasm.) Beer is sunflower gold, aswirl with floaties despite careful pouring off the lees. Apathetic dirty white collar of foam. Lemon and coriander nose, plus wax, honey, and minty/herbal (German?) hops. Abundant zesty spice... in order: orange, coriander, ginger, caraway... on top of bready wheat malt. Definitely not subtle. Thin palate leaves a waxy feel in the mouth. Hay, marigold, and G&T aftertaste. A well-spiced, in-your-face witbier.

Peer is a silghtly hazy golden yellow with a fine and fading white head. Nose is sweet and hoppy, decent amount of tang. Flavor is tangy with floral hints starts off sweetish and mellows to a dry hoppy finish. Texture is a little thin.

Blue Moon wannabe, but not all that bad. Nice light wheat flavor, very refreshing, with lemon and orange peels, clove and coriander. I’d happily knock one back on a hot summer day.

Good for a Summer quencher, this pours a hazy, deep yellow color with an initially tall, fizzy white head. The aroma is sweet lemons with a touch of orange. It’s soft and lightly creamy with a mild wheat flavor blended pleasantly with lemon and cloves. Decent enough.

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Bottle. Aroma very citric,orange and lemony. Pour was unusual, some clear and some hazy almost like it was two seperate beers. Flavor I liked, had a creamy lemony wheaty texture with a spiced bitter bite. Palate was ok overall. Overall it was ok. ReRate INFO: Bought this on the bargain aisle and I have to say, trying this again, it’s quite enjoyable. A nice changeup to the winter darkness. Still citric but I’m really digging how tasty this is.

thanks to alobar for bringing this over. nice aroma of orange, spices, and wet hay going on, the appearace is pretty disappointing, as it is virtually clear when poured into a glass unless you get the last 2 oz, which looks nice and cloudy. surprisingly bitter for this style, the orange and wheat sweetness are obvious but not until the strange bitterness comes in as the first characteristic. it ends smooth and sweet, but i was just too thrown off by the clarity of the pour and the up front bitterness.

a beautiful blond, a bit cloudy, with off-white head. smooth and quenching.

Bottle. $1.49 for a 12-oz single. Very light yellow with a small white head. Lotsa bubbles. Aroma of banana and clove. Flavor... hmm... initial reaction was that it’s bland, but it’s actually quite nice. Starts with banana, middles with spices (clove, pepper), and finishes bubblegummy. I am actually kinda impressed with this one.