Saranac Pomegranate Wheat

bottle: Probably the most character of any Saranac beer but fruit beers dont’ do it for me. I don’t taste pomengranate as much as a chemical that tastes like it. Somehow the real flavour does not come out but then so many fruit beers suffer from that. The Saranac hefweizen is the best of the lot with the strong banana & cloves.

Light tan orange color with an aroma that I couldn’t quite but my finger on (I guess it might be pomegranate but I’ve never had it before). Flavor was fizzy with some tart citrus. Good light summer beer.

Bottle sampled at NFB&WF ’08 at Martha Clara Vineyards. I frankly think most of the beers I’ve had from Saranac have been disappointments and not very good. So when I saw this one at the festival, I originally stayed away, figuring this one would be just as bad. I eventually came back and decided to give it a try. What a pleasant surprise to find I enjoyed this beer. Pours a cloudy gold. Lovely pomegranate in the aroma with some other fruit notes as well. The flavor was a little toned down as compared to the aroma, but still enjoyable with pomegranate, wheat and some light citrus all present. Light bodied and refreshing.

Warm honey color, slight haze in a good glass but otherwise the rocky head and cool caldera look don’t emerge. Fruity, spritzy aroma--fruit tartness evident a la strawberry and of course, pomegranate. Slight floral and herbal notes in there, maybe a touch of anise. Light, simple, refreshing, thin. Fruity, clean, good. Sweet entry, sweet middle, wheat and yeast apparent throughout with some lingering fruit tartness at the end, near the back of the tongue. Finishes dry, not bad.

For a fruit beer, the fruit is hardly noticeable, but in a good way. It’s a non-bitter light wheat tasting beer with a very slight flavor of fruit.