North Coast Blue Star

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Fort Bragg, California USA

Clean, tight foamy white head and cloudy straw color body with substantial carbonation. I would like this considerably more if it wasn’t the 3rd consecutive North Coast beer with a strong smell of Trix. I think it comes from their yeast because it seems most prominent in this unfiltered offering. The sweet, honey, fruity artificially-flavored kids’ cereal aroma is driving me crazy. Notes of wheat underneath, but cereal has that too. Flavor is markedly better. Tangy, grainy, buttery and nutty. Substantially sweet but brings a nice bitter counterbalance. Not great, but a pretty decent American Wheat if I overlook the Trix yeast strain. They should have named this the "Silly Rabbit".

I’m not going to give up on American Wheats, because while they don’t have the character of their Belgian cousins (and some American brewpub wheats are really mislabeled macros), there are some interesting things to be found. So it is with Blue Star. Pouring a yellow-orange color, moderately hazy, there was a rather attractive aroma that changed with the temperature. At first there was something approaching a whiff of candied/caramel apple, and then other fruity notes such as pineapple could be found. A tinge of spice, and some more citrus aromas, remained even as it tended to warm into a more nondescript wheat aroma. A hint of honey was an added feature of the flavor, along with some fruit (banana, lemon) and another paper-like undertone. The body was disappointing: much too limp, approaching watery at times, without the zing of flavor and carbonation that keeps many wits interesting. Not a bad beer for its aromas, and easily drinkable on a summer’s day, but not what an "American wheat" could be.

Cloudy, hazy yellow color, with a huge white frothy and foamy head that doesn’t last long. This has citrus and wheat aromas, light wheaty, and very mild yeasty flavors with some lemon, light to medium in body, crisp and cabonated mouthfeel, has a nice clean and refreshing finish.

Bottle into small plastic tasting cup, Humulus Lupus @ Jak’s Tap (Chicago). I’m glad the other North Coast beers don’t taste like this one. Horrible. Smelled of vinegar. Yellow and hazy in the cup. Tasted like a bad macro, didn’t even taste any of the wheat beer character. Light, fizzy, ass.

On tap @ brewery brewhouse thing across the street. Golden, slightly cloudy, light-medium body and refreshing...better with the lemon, even though I typically prefer Hefe without it...which counted against the beer, as it shouldn’t need lemon. Flavor was nothing special, session beer?

duvel tulip glass: smells like moldy orange, and yet it’s not offensive... strange. the head is big, white, rocky, and airy. and sparkly! the body is nearly golden, more like orange. it’s cloudy. there’s chunks of yeast on the bottom. it tastes good. it feels good and cremey. flavors: lightly fruity like orange, a bit doughy. hmm. wheaty goodness. i didn’t expect to like this!

Pours a lovely, clear yellow with a thin head. Medium carbonation rising up for the entire life of the pint. Aroma was farily bland with only traces of wheat. Taste has plenty of wheat and hops. There is much more lemon than I would expect; it was like someone at the brewery squeezed a lemon wedge into my bottle! Finish was a tad dry. A decent wheat, but I won’t hoard cases for the summer.

Tap@North Coast. Lemony and tangy, wheaty, grainy malts, a bit short, American wheats never seem to work.