New Glarus Unplugged Imperial Weizen

Brewed by New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: German Hefeweizen
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

Todds Tasting! Thanks Todd! Orange hues with a fluffy off white head. Fruity esters and clove on the nose. Alcohol was extremely well masked. Columbus hops and banana up front. Bitter lemon finish.

12 oz bottle poured into a weizen glass. Poured a hazy apricot color with a frothy, long lasting white head. Medium amount of carbonation. Nice lacing down the sides of the glass. The aroma was of cloves, banana, wheat, orange, and a touch of honey. The taste backs up what was the aroma presented. Had a nice bitter finish and had the characteristics of a nice clean hefeweizen finish. The 9.6% ABV was also nicely masked. Very nice beer.

Bottle from KingpinIPA. Cloudy apricot color with massive fluffy head. Aroma was spicy with lemon and hop notes. Taste was the same. Thick and full bodied with bitter spicy finish. Not real refreshing, but good never the less.

12oz bottle. Aroma of yeast, citrus, bananas, and wheat. Hazy orange sparkling hue with a huge foamy white head that left great lace. Flavor is spicy yeast, wheat, citrus and finishes bitter. Palate is lively and medium bodied. Quite crisp. Not bad but not my style.

On the pour I was thinking this is a pretty dope beer. Nose was initially all c-hops then came the hefe smells, cloves and bananas, some citrus. Very pretty orangey yellow with fluffy offwhite head. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, but that’s probably due to how dry this beer is. Nice hoppiness that fits in well with the burly hefe flavors. A very nice beer, though hardly a true German Hefe, I’d have went with a wheat ale...

12oz bottle.<P>I generally take fidelity to style into consideration when rating a beer, but since it’s not really practical in this case, I rated simply by how much I enjoyed it. <P>Pours a hazy apricot hue with massive, gigantic pillowy head. WAY too much carbonation -- the head from half a pour just kept building and building until eventually spilling over. A lot of this beer ended up on my kitchen counter, which pisses me off considering how much I paid for this bottle. Aroma gives up a huge, unsubtle burst of piney, flowery hops, bananas, clove and a bit of Sweet-tarts. While this odd hybrid works on the nose, it doesn’t work very well for me on the palate. The commercial description is not kidding when it warns that "dry hopping boldly rules over" the wheat and the yeast. It starts out OK at first, letting the more traditional hefeweizen characteristics make a showing, but the aftertaste is so hoppy that it’s reminiscent of dish soap. I know a lot of hop-heads like that kind of thing but I don’t, especially when it otherwise could have been an intriguing flavor combination. Palate is thinnish as per a hefeweizen and tingly with carbonation. <P>An interesting flavor combination with a lot of potential, but the execution was just too much of a slap in the face to be really enjoyable.

Cloudy, golden color. Smell of hops, malt, pine, bananas, clove, pine and alcohol. Taste of banana cream pie, pine, hops,malt, clove, pepper and alcohol.

Pours a bright hazy golden yellow with a huge billowy three finger head that hangs around for ages leaving great lacing. This is what a hefe should look like. Huge nose on this with the sweet wheat, yeast and massive spiciness interacting beautifully. Not to mention the big banana aroma with lemon zest. Wow, this is a seriously big aroma for a hefe. Big wheat taste up front which gives way to the spices - cloves are the showcase in the middle. The spice gives way to the lemon zest and orange peel in the finish with a hop bitterness. I didn’t get too much banana in the taste compared to the smell. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth but, with the carbonation and the spice, there is a serious zing on the tongue. This is certainly one of the better hefeweizens I’ve ever tasted. The spiciness is pretty big so the drinkability isn’t quite what it could be. However, this is, without a doubt, the most complex brew I’ve ever tasted in this style. Highly recommended!