The Tap Whittier White

Brewed by Haverhill Brewery, Inc / The Tap
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Haverhill, Massachusetts USA

(Draught) Pours a hazy pale yellow body with a small white head. Aroma of wheat, coriander, and lemon zest. Flavor of coriander, wheat, orange peel, and clove.

On tap at the brewpub. Murky yellow witha white head. Solid wit nose of wheat, coriander and lemon, light clove, but more lemony than spiced. Flavor follws, adding a dash of white pepper. Body seems a tad thick. OK.

(12oz bottle) Small white head atop murky grapefruit juice body. Aroma is medium sweet, orange, orange blossom, coriander, light clove. Taste is medium sweet, orange, light clove, pepper, lemon. Watery light body, faint creaminess, very drinkable.

En fût. Pinte dégustée chez The Tap (Haverhill, MA). Arôme: Odeur de coriandre et d’agrumes. Apparence: La couleur est blonde pâle voilée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une large dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de coriandre et de citron. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement crémeuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Présence de cinq épices (?) en arrière goût. (Rating #1691)

My Bottom Line:
A tantalizing spice mix grabs onto the nose and doesn’t want to let go; coriander seeds, orange peel, cumin, white pepper, allspice, etc. The lightly citrusy wheatiness and its doughy yeast counterpart team up to support this dazzling spice display and an impressive estival quencher of a Witbier is created.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A slice of foam dips into the cloudy beige.
-This beer begs for a good Indian curry.
-The body is lean and well-built; this is not just a pile of spices thrown into an average brew.
-This is already very good in this tap form, but as many Belgian-style ales, I think it might work even better bottle-conditioned. I’ll have to pick a bottle up to see!
-The end result is very drinkable as the spices know when to let up and make you long for more.

On tap at the brewpub.

Hazy/cloudy yellow, with little head but good lacing. Aroma is dominated by heavy banana and lemon. Thick body with moderate acidity. a very nice example of the style.

Pours with a white, four-finger head that goes quickly to a ring and leaving a little lace. Light-medium carbonation and light bodied. Cloudy amber color. Nose is lemon. Flavor is sour lemon almost a lambic. Squeaky clean finish. Not a winter beer. $1.75 for a 12oz bottle from Colonial Spirits, Acton, MA.

Bottle. Initially pours a clear pale amber with a fluffy white head. Apparently, I need to rouse the yeast. OK, the contents of my second glass are murky amber. The aroma of the first glass is clear and bright, like the appearance., with oranges and coriander predominating. The aroma from glass #2 is more subdued, but a bit of spice comes through. The clear glass has a lot of lemony sourness to the taste, with a dry spicy finish and a coriander aftertaste. The cloudy version cuts the lemon influence, but still starts out tart. More of the spice and orange peel shows up in the taste along with a touch of wheat. Yes, it is more balanced when served as intended.