Sprecher Mbege Ale

Brewed by Sprecher Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Glendale, Wisconsin USA

Date: 03/22/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: hazy orange, wispy off white head, bits of lace,
Aroma: big sweet fruity aroma with a caramel sweetness and a light fruity tartness,
Body: thick body,
Flavor: sweet banana flavor, lots of thick fruity sweetness,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

16oz bottle. Poured a medium and slightly hazy amber color with an averaged sized head. Aromas of bananas with some citrus and caramel in the background. Tastes of bananas. This one was bananas all the way - stronger in the aromas though.

Pours a clear orange bronze with a small froth of wispy white head. Aroma of sweet ripe bananas, more than I’ve ever smelled in a beer before and some fruity esters. Body starts with a touch of sweet candied banana fruit which fades into a muddled slightly earthy and bitter transition before a drier toasty, bready, hefe-weizen yeastiness with a hint of clove. An interesting and unique beer, but it could be a little more balanced and flavorful.

500 ml bottle. Deep cloudy pale amber coloured brew. Aroma is lightly spicy with soft toasted grain character over a lightly banana-ish flavour. A hint of smokiness with a husky earthiness as well. Warming brings up a slightly vineous sherryish note. A bit phenolic and spicy with light orange citrus, banana and a soft tartness on the back. Honeyed sweetness on the back. The graininess and tartness are interesting, but the phenolics get a bit much after awhile.

There’s a slight haze to the dark apricot body and the white head, initially bubbly and big, is soon a slender halo. It smells like banana candy with a touch of toffee. It tastes like slushy banana candy, terribly artificial, with some grasses and hay. Oddly, there’s a touch of eucalyptus in the finish. I applaud Sprecher’s experimenting like this, but I had a hard time getting the pint down. And keeping it there.

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Lightly cloudy dark golden to amber color. smallish, but stable head. Very much like candy in the aroma. A mix of bananas and cream soda. Powerful flavors from the start. Bananas mashed with light cloves, circus peanuts and cinnamon. A mild wheat and pale malt emerges mid quaff that is quite pleasant and much more than I expected. The candy and light spice and extract twang come back in the linger. But actually quite a bit better than I expected.

Picked up single bottle at Bob’s McFarland Liquors in McFarland, WI. So this is the famous Sprecher Banana beer. So here we go! Pours a hazy golden pale brownish brew (strange color!), with a fizzy white head. Diminishes quickly with a sparce lacing. Aroma is of banana creme pie, some caramel, lime peel, and honey. Taste is smooth, fizzy carbonated, medium body and more doughy bread than bananas. The aroma was better than the taste. Finish is lightly bitter, dry and more like a yeasty heffeweizen. Cool looking beer bottle label.

Bottled. Poured a slightly hazy medium amber/golden with a short dusting of white head sticking around. Nose was very heavy on banana Runts... very sweet with underlying grassiness and yeasty notes. Flavor, as previously mentioned, is strongly remniscent of Circus Peanuts with toasted bananas, a little yeast funk and mild grassy bitterness... very sweet and hard to get through 16 ounces. Sweet finish accented by an intriguing spiciness. Carbonation was on the high end.. decent flow. This was an interesting experiment, but I’m not going back for another.