Sterkens White Ale

Brewed by Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat)
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Cooperstown, New York USA

03.13.05 330ml bottle with metallic silver and blue label. Yellow straw color with small white head; big white globs throughout. Looks like metamucil and I’ve decided that it’s one of the ugliest beers I’ve ever seen. I had it resting in the fridge for three days and reserved the last 1/4 bottle and it was still nasty and globular. Minimal aroma is mostly lemon and grass with some corn or lagerishness. Tastes like wet paper with lemon juice. Mineral and musk (not musty, but musky, eww). Pretty dry to finish. This is not even close to good beer, no wonder it was only $1.99. And it’s not been sitting on the shelf for long in the store as it’s the first time I’d ever seen anything ’Sterkens’ at this store I frequent.

Bottle. Hazy pale straw beer with a big fluffly head. Clean wheat flavor. Light body - slightly watery. Wheat aroma, some citrus. Spiciness and yeasiness is very very light leavig little complexity in the beer.

I could tell by the musty aroma and the volume of yeast chunks suspended in the brew that this must be OLD... and that’s not really something I look for in a wit. So I check it out here on RB and find out it’s been retired. (This is the 2nd Sterkens beer that I’ve picked up in the Chicago area that’s been retired. What dastard is behind this?!?) That being said - - - The musty aroma has a nice lemony spritz to it. The flavor is spicy with cloves and white peppers. The chunks add a light fruitiness to it. The finish is a bit dusty. This was probably a decent ale in its prime.

small white head. cloudy gold color with hints of clove and spice. very light tasting...more of a summer beer. Overall a decent White.

Pours with a one-finger white head that fades slowly leaving some lace. Cloudy amber color and some yeast left in the bottle. Light bodied and light-medium carbonation. Nose is a yeasty wheat. Starts with a distinct wheat flavor, finishes crisp and light. $3.99 for a 330ml bottle from Hoosick Street Discount Bev. Troy, NY.

Hazy chunky yellow. Not a great White. Notes of cloves and citrus. Light on flavor. Doesn’t hold a candle to a good wit.

This beer pours a very light yellow color, pretty much clear but a slight hint of cloudy swirls. A massive white foamy head which quickly dies out but leaves a tiny bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma is light and banana like with a hint of cloves..definitely yeasty but honestly much lighter than I would have expected. Flavor-wise much of the same...very watery and clove, grapefruit and banana-like... sweet and grainy, but very light.. some mild witty carbonation, but even that seemed somewhat subdued. Very light mouthfeel and extremely subdued wit qualities. Not a poor representation of the style, just not very profound in any of the categories...relatively boring experience.

Bottle. Hazy-yellow, very smooth looking head that’s kinda cool. Yeasty aroma, some faint tangerine. Crisp with some banana-clove and wheatiness, but it’s just too plain light and watery to be called a good example of the style.