Santa Cruz Mountain Wilder Wheat

Brewed by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing
Style: Wheat Ale
Santa Cruz, California USA

On tap. Pours a cloudy yellow with a small off-white head. Sweetish coriander and yeast in the nose. Medium body, soft mouthfeel, again coriander and yeast with a phenollic finish. 090709

From tap at the brewpub. Pours hazy yellow with no head. Aroma is light cornish and estery fruity. Classic wheat flavoured with a little more sweet malt base than usual for the style. Light bitter and fruity finish.

Date: March 15, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: hazy yellow, fine white head, drippy white lace
Aroma: light sweet fruity aroma with a touch of musty wheat tartness
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, fair amount of tartness (wheat or infection?)
Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 4/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 7/20
Rating: 2.2/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: *+/4

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy light yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly hoppy (flowers), with a note of lemon zest. Flavor is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively/fizzy carbonation. Basic example, decent enough. More tartness than one might expect.

Bomber (080807) from Bottle Barn. Aroma of wheat and light lemon. Hazy bright golden color with a white head that didn’t last. Thin to medium bodied with mild carbonation. The flavor starts a little bit citrus, has some pale/bready malt, and passes to something paperish. That passes as the citrus comes back with some bitter. Finish is sort of citrus and bitter. Very unusual, but it smells and tastes pretty good.

Draft at the brewery. OK, so here’s the deal with every beer I had here: buttery. Adjust the color and basic flavor component to match the beer otherwise, and that pretty much wraps it up. This one was a little wheaty, which is what you’d hope for in a wheat beer. (#3582, June 2009)

Bomber from Bottle Barn; Dated 08/08/07) Nose of grain, light apply fruitiness, and some lemon zestiness; very slightly hazed gold with a medium, quick disapating white head; flavor of whaet, apples, a little sourness, and very light bitterness for a finish.

28-Jan-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 11-Jan-08 for $4.29 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) Hardly a sound when popping the cap, the hazy, medium-straw colored beer pours with only a thin, bubbly head that fully dissipates rapidly. Upon first tasting this "American Style Hefeweizen," the beer seems very light and uninteresting. Just not a lot of flavor or body. But after a few more sips, some interesting notes emerge. The wheat base is very light and almost evades detection, but that just allows the other flavors to come out more. Somewhat spicy, lightly citrusy, estery (almost-ripe banana), and mildly sweet, but also gently tart. The beer also has a very dusty, chalky quality, which I really dig. Aromas match the flavor, specifically the dustiness and tartness. Body and carbonation are certainly light, but with the spice, dustiness and light tartness, the end result is a refreshing beer that begins to resemble a saison in some respects. Not a great first impression, but that’s mostly because the beer didn’t match my expectations. Once past that, the beer is actually quite enjoyable.