Terrapin Side Project Gamma Ray

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: Barley Wine
Athens, Georgia USA

Bottle courtesy of durhambeer. Pours gold with a thin white head. Smells of honey, citrus, wheat, spice, bananas, clove. Tastes of honey and sweet caramel with lots of spicy hints. This is a very well balanced easy drinking beer with a nice warming alcohol bite coming through from the honey and some peppery splashes on the finish. More braggot than barleywine.

Taste of spice and sweet honey. Pours a bronze/yellow with white small forming head. Good sweet smell. Good feel and not long lasting. Great brew.

Has a crazy amount of complexity. The aroma is sweet and lively. It has flavors of banana,honey,and herbs. The alcohol is really present in this one, but not too overpowering.

Draft. Pours slightly transluscent orange with a creamy, beige head. Aroma of lavander, hops, banana, clove, oranges. Medium bodied with a tangy, smooth mouthfeel. Finishes clean and quick, with some tart aftertaste. Very good barley wine.

This is, I believe, my first wheatwine - and me likes! Aroma is strong and wheaty and has the "rubbery" undertone I associate with good wheat beers; there is just a whisper of sweetness, probably from the honey. Flavor is crisp and smooth, strongly wheaty with more than a hint of sweetness and just a teeny bit of hop bite. Texture is pleasingly smooth, and aftertaste is satisfying. Too bad this is a one-time-only release.

I chose a half liter Weizen glass to pour this into, and it looked appropriate partially, as the body was pale gold in color, but there was no haze, and the typical Weizen head was totally absent. The smell was pretty spot on though, with bananas, cloves, and a touch of pear. This started off as a typical wheat beer, with the fruity and sweet bits playing on the tongue up front, then mid palette the gloves came off, and a snappy bitterness and some white pepper and cardamom like spiciness showed up. The finish was warm and boozy. Quite light and slippery on the tongue, so I suspect the honey fermentation resulted in most of the alcoholic strength. Quite a unique and pleasant ride this Wheatwine turned out to be. Wonder if this would age well?

Pours a slightly hazy orange vistalite with a small white head. Aroma of honey, candied sugar, banana and cloves. Taste of honey, banana, cloves and candied sugar.

A cloudy yellow to orange color with a minimal head. The aroma contains some lemons, honey, and bananas. The flavor is quite sweet with some bananas, honey, molasses, and alcohol. The mouthfeel is rather syrupy. Overall this is good in small amount, typical of a wheatwine though. Good.