The Tap Whittier White

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

(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.

(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.

12oz bottle. Poured a lighter and slightly hazy yellow color with a larger sized white head. Aromas of lemons, coriander (and other spices), yeast, and some wheat. Tastes of lemons, orange peels, wheat, and spices. Has a nice and enjoyable tartness to it. This one took me by surprise!

on tap-pours a lumpy/blotchy white head that laces and cloudy yellow/orange color. Aroma is banana, clove, wheat, raw back fill comes thru occasionally. It was nice to see the write up that referenced raw wheat. Taste is strong banana, spices, clove, wheat, yeast, citrus. OK carbonation. Occasional.

Gigantic frothy and foamy white head elevates over the pale golde hue. Heavy spice nose, focusing on coriander, but having this overall malt-yeast spice balance that few achieve. Dry and tart palate, it’s been a while since I’ve met a wit with such fresh flavors. Lively fruits and fresh spices meet the soft maltiness with the head high. Biting peppery yeast add a new level. heavy carbonation, light, pretty thin body makes for the only weakness. Exceptional wit!

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.

I guess it was a good enough hit at BCTC, as this is now a rotating offering at the brewpub, which I had a pint of on 1/7/06.
Rosey as dawn and flecked with shimmeringly brilliant white gold and almond flesh tones. Fully cloudy, very homogenously so, with a fluffy, medium-sized snow-white head atop that seems to be stuck to the beer and glass. If the lacing or retention is not quite up to snuff (and I’m not sure that it isn’t), the captivating color on the beer more than makes up for it.
The aroma boasts soft, light sugars mixed with a playful bubble gum ester, hints of banana puree dropped in to a vanilla and wheat germ milk shake. Coriander ringing forth with a fresh and drying presence, though not as dominant as it apparently was at BCTC. Yeast livliness adds a playful white pepper and soft dough note, while dry lemon zest and star fruit skin glitter amongst the wheat back-drop.
The flavor combines an elegant balance of dry, lightly creamy wheat and fresh, green coriander. Lemon and bubble gum are quick to approach, but a snappy Belgian yeast, more white pepper-like notes and perfectly timed malt sugars comfort the palate. Ends rather boisterous, perhaps a little too heavy on the coriander acidity/tartness as it wears on. The carbonation is quite lively, bubbles a bit too large, with some lemon and unripened tangerine notes really being showcased a touch too dominantly. No alcohol apparency. Lively, touch watery texture. The wheat dosent add as much chewy texture as I would have expected. If they could get some more substantial texture from the wheat and tighten the carbonation, this would surely be one of the prime American examples out there.

(Draught) Sampled at the Belgium Comes To Cooperstown 2005 in Cooperstown, NY. Non-dissipating, white head with a cloudy, lemon-coloured body. Nose of a wit with OUMPH! Thin, citrus with vanilla tones. I like.