Sierra Nevada Crystal Wheat

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Chico, California USA

Draught, Falling Rock. Head is mostly diminishing. Body is light yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (grain), trace hops (herbs), moderately yeasty (dough). Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, unclean. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. I always find it surprising when people can’t smell the overwhelming vitamin B stink of raw yeast in Sierra Nevada’s beers. This one is especially obvious because there’s so little other aroma to cover it up. Dough soup. Horrible.

Aroma= litght citrus notes Apperance= Clear deep straw, solid white head Flavor= low maltiness, but citrus like grapfruit, slight wheat tartness Palate= Light bodied Overall= tasty beer leaning on the hop side

Sampled @ GABF- Pours a clear golden color, small white head. Aroma is fresh chopped wheat, malt notes. Flavor is rather light, a touch of citrus and gumballs, very thin over all.

[At Stockholm Beer Festival 2005] A clear yellow beer with a thin white head. The aroma is sweet malty and wheaty - and so is the flavor - leading to a dry end. The banana is very well hidden.

light gold soapy white head good lace. Wheaty barley grainy lightly sweet lightly grassy aroma. Watery palate. Grain and weak hop flavor... very boring.

Draught at Stockholm Beer Festival. Clear pale golden, small head. Sweet and fruity, notes of grapefruit and banana. The mouthfeel is clean and rounded and the finish somewhat soapy. The mouthfeel is too hard to make it quaffable, yet it provides not much flavours to make it a beer to sip on.

(Draft: Sierra Nevada 2005 Beer Festival at Lucky Baldwins in Pasadena, CA) Beer number two on my list is this beautiful clear wheat, and oh my, what a beautiful head. Of course, I’ve trained the bartender to not scoop all the head out of the glass. Very creamy, frothy like cappuccino, and very, very slow to settle, but as it does, it’s leaving a dense, thick blanket of lace behind. Simply gorgeous in my small Chimay glass (my requested vessel for this festival). Dark straw body is absolutely crystal clear. The mildly aromatic nose is wheaty and gently citrusy, but it’s also a bit stinky, and I’m not enjoying that part. Light in body and mildly flavorful, this seems like a perfect summer beer. Thing is, I prefer more flavor in any beer I drink, so this isn’t grabbing me. Wheat maltiness isn’t speaking much wheat to me, and is so light, the mild, lemony hops is seemingly the most prominent part of this beer. But isn’t hops almost always proudly on display in Sierra Nevada beers? In addition to the light body, the beer is also pretty gently carbonated, so this is extremely easy to drink. Just not my kind of beer though, but it’s not bad either.

Had on tap at the Retaurant/Taproom in Chico. Medium golden pour, tight white head. Fresh, slighlty fruity and citrusy aroma. Crisp wheat flavor with a hint of citrus. Very crisp, tangy and refreshing. High carbonation. Decent.