Southampton Double White Ale

22oz bottle. Aroma: wheat and malt in equal measure. Strong orange peel, coriander, yeast, and some pepper as well. A light sourness comes through as it warms. Appearance: Dark orange in color and slomewhat hazy. Yellowish tinted off-white head was full and rocky with good retention. Nice lacing. Flavor: Strong orange flavor, spicy coriander, wheat, yeast, and a light sourness reminiscient of oranges. Crisp finish. Palate: Medium-light bodied. Medium-high carbonation. Overall: Was a bit skeptical of the double wit idea, but this works pretty well. Good wit flavors but more intense. Good stuff.

650ml Bottle @ Decemberfest 2006; thanks to HogTownHarry: Pours hazy, yellow, with an excellent thick head; great start! Aroma offers lots of lemon, as well as cloves and citrus peel. The flavour is heavy on lemon with a side of yeast, coriander, cloves, and orange. Eloquent, tasty, very well done.

Bomber. Thanks, Luiss! Pours a cloudy, lightly bubbly medium orange. Gorgeous. Thin white head skipping around the surface for a second. Big nose of lemon, a tiny bit of banana in there, orange pith and coriander too. Forward attack though not super aggressive; medium body, active carb, and lively, sparkling flavors. All the old favorites from the nose show up on the tongue: lemon, orange, banana, coriander. Fun stuff. Very drinkable, refreshing--and complex enough to be satisfying. This is nice work by SH.

The witbier, my secret pleasure - a style so simple, a duality of flavors, refreshing year round and available almost anywhere thanks to the machine Hoegaarden has become. Indeed every wit I’ve had is itself merely by comparison to Hoegaarden, regardless of the "descent" (to put it euphemiously). When I finally found a beer that could transcend the delicate balance of Hoegaarden, namely Abbaye des Rocs’ double white, I felt somewhat cheated by the strong Tripel connotations it held for me, and while I enjoyed the brew, I felt that reaching the pinnacle of this style could be better done by remaining confined to its limitations. Des Rocs’ creative approach, though delicious, simply doesn’t feel witty enough, and here I mean both clever and wit-like. Enter Southampton, a sphinx among brewers, suddenly producing one of the truest Belgians outside of Belgium (in the form of Grand Cru) and, to me, esoteric as can be. This interpretation glows of a bright buttery hue and shines with a smooth opalescent top that erodes to an even sheet of lace. Lemon curd appears upon the nose, reconciling the sharp citrus with a buttery softness. Nutmeg and of course coriander appear prominently while hints of pineapple and artichoke heart add to the succinct but balanced complexity of the aroma. Orange peel, coriander as well as the slight sourness of pineapple and apple create a depth and character that is true to the style but enhanced and veritably made double. The palate is adorned by the very authentic hint of chalk and a dry but refreshing burst of fine carbonation. Southampton has nailed the style perfectly and taken it to the next logical level with a sophisticated allure, while retaining the primordial quenching quality of the wit. Bravo!

Very enjoyable. Almost has a more hefeweizen like style. Difficult to categorize but easy to drink. Superbly made.

22 oz bottle from John (jjpm74) Thanks! Pours out a cloudy yellow color with no head at all. Smell is sweet, orange, corriander, and somewhat spicy. Taste is very pronounced on the orange side. Spicy and refreshing. Pretty damn good stuff actually. I love this style too, and sadly not many brewers make decent witbiers. This is an exception to that though. Thanks!

A rather tasty beer with a good wheaty crisp orange flavor. Has a lingering sour aftertaste though. Still a good beer.

Aroma of yeast and citrus. Color was pale gold, not too cloudy. Taste was normal for a wit, with a slight twist. Finish was unusual for a wit beer, somewhat tart. Definite sour elements. Surprised it is in the 99.5 percentile for this style