Victory Whirlwind Witbier

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

12oz bottle via trade with stegosaurus - Thanks Joe! - Pours pale golden cloudy with a big white head that stays only briefly but does leave a bit of lace on the weizen. Aromas of orange, corriander, and some yeast. Flavor includes lots of orange peel, yeast, and a little spice I think clove. Fizzy on the palate but fairly crisp and clean. Refreshing on a rather warm day.

BB 04-08. Pours a hazy, golden straw color with an average, white, fizzy head which disappates quicklyand leaves minimal lace. Nose is quite pleasant and fragrant; corriander and clove are the dominant spices with a light herbal, peppery note in the background. Other notes of light vanilla, lemon peel, wheat, and tartness of a sour orange. Flavor never matches the nose; very yeasty with some esters noted, vanilla, light wheat, lightly tart oranges and spices of allspice and clove. Palate is fairly light, watery, and lively, but refreshing. Finishes short with tart citrus, vanilla, and allspice. It has the makings of a great wit but has somewhat subdued flavors and a questionable watery palate. Great nose for the style but nothing else matches its great spicing notes.

Hazy yellow pour (last bit of the bottle was swirled and poured) with a 1 finger frothy white head. Zesty lemon aroma with a bit of candi sugar, yeastiness, and a hint of sour green apple. Initial flavor is quite estery with some banana and clove like flavor. The middle of the flavor profile brings out a nice sweetness but not cloying like some wit’s. Tart green apple finish that is a bit spicy. Medium body with a slight oily quality and a dry finish.

xxx very good beer. Victory is one of the best brewery out there and you cant go wrong with anything they make.,

Pours a pale gold with white yellow, a white head, some floaties swimming around, lemon orange sour scents, faint smoke fragrance, coriander and wheat aromas, whiffs of white pepper, lemon citrus and pepper flavors, pepper continues into the finish and the finish is dry, light mouth feel, faint malt taste, sediment adds a bread flavor to the drink.

Bottle (best by Aug 29 05, sampled Jun 27 07). Well, I suppose no one experiments with aged witbiers, so this sampling might just have some instructive value. Apple juice and coriander aroma with light lemony citrus spitzed thereon. Vague floral hops. Hazy yellow with a soapy, fizzy white head. Body is watery thin. Taste seems to have fled – this is one of the blandest wits I’ve tried, though there’s nothing to detract. I have to imagine this would taste tenfold better when fresh. Aftertaste kissed by citrus, dry and lightly wheaten. Lightly tart. Still and enjoyable summer beer.

Witbier is not a style that immediately strikes me as either innovative or diverse. A few spices here or there may differ between species but by and large they are a monolithic grouping. The Whirlwind Wit combats this destructive stereotyping by breaking the mold, and in more than one place. Even a barbaric pour yields little head. Only a still pool of dark golden beer with heavy particulation remains after the pour, but it’s not the outward appearance we’re after. I bring my nose to the edge of the glass, perusing for something new and refreshing. I find it in abundance. Caramel and butter make for a deliciously dulcet aroma, which when combined with a lesser degree of cinnamon and clove makes a bouquet worthy of the most decadent postprandial sweet. The flavor is just as profound, though forming a different sensation. It is dry, bubbly and spicy, but still good for an early afternoon refreshment. This may in fact mark the first time I’ve encountered such a developed hint of spice in a wit. Citrus, wheat, communion wafer (mmmm, that’s some good eucharist), a healthy pat of butter, all spice and clove orchestrate a innovative new approach to the wit. After this I’m forced to take back my earlier impressions of a once misunderstood style, and anticipate future forays into the Witbier that will, hopefully, be as rewarding. In the meantime I think I may have found my new casual spring drink of choice.

a nice sweet summer flavor. Not as good as the hoegardeen ale. Tastes good on a hot sumer day.