Wells Banana Bread Beer (Bottle)

Brewed by Wells & Youngs
Style: English Strong Ale
Bedford, England

Bottle from Whole Foods Redwood City. My little sister was raving about this beer, whereas largadeer from BA said it sucked something awful. Was hoping to side with my little sister on this one, but alas, Wells Banana Bread Beer did in fact suck. Pours a very clear amber color with a small off-white head that fades rather quickly. Aroma is bananas, bread, and caramel. It does smell like banana bread, although it is a bit heavy on the banana. As for flavor, well, when I was in college when we ran out of beer, I would sometimes play beer pong with "banana water," which was 99 Bananas mixed with water. It was terrible. This tasted like that. Banana bread flavor was there, but balance was not. Alcohol was also a little more present than it should be at 5.2%. Palate was also really off. Extremely thin and watery for what I expected to be a beer with some body, with a somewhat boozy/harsh finish. Overall, nice novelty, but not so great on the execution. Also, how the hell is this a "strong ale" at 5.2%?

Flaske 0,5l spandert og delt med Rune. Gyldenbrun på farge. Høyt kremaktig skum. Aroma av godt modne bananer. Smaken likedan. OK men litt uvariert. Søt ettersmak. KI=0

500mL Bottle -- Pours brown with an off-white head. Where it smells just like banana bread it tastes more like banana peel. The flavor is bitter and off-putting.

Bottle. Pours light amber in color with a small white head. Aroma of amber malts and banana. Flavor is slightly hoppy with a banana aftertaste. The carbonation in this beer really adds to the aroma but takes something away from the flavor and mouthfeel. Not bad once you have a few swigs though.

Pours amber with nice off-white head. Recedes to consistent layer on top. Smells like fake-banana flavor. Banana candy, gum, whatever. I like that smell, so kinda nice. Taste is again of fake banana. Too bad there isn’t a little real banana there. I think there is an amber under there somewhere, but tough to pick out the beer from the banana. If you’re going to do this, I say use a beer with some sweetness or tartness for the banana to ride on. As is, this just a shitty amber with banana flavor added, and that’s about it.

I don’t understand the ’Gentle nose of Banana’ portion of the description. Holy mackerel, its like getting hit in the face with a buncha’ bananas. Color is very nice. Highly carbonated. I didn’t care for this much.

Pours a very clear dark amber, not much head retention. Obvious banana aroma dominating the nose. Malt and banana on the tongue, no detectable hop bitterness. High carbonation but not much body.

Pale brown with orange hues. A small white head that settles just a little too fast. Plenty of banana in the nose, but the smell is not as artificial and candy-like that I had suspected. They are actually quite restrained and they have at least some resemblance of real bananas. Still, it’s a rather sweet smell and there are some notes of soft banana candy. Some fudge, white bread and a hint of grassy hops. All in all, it’s a rather weak and quite pointless smell, and the flavors don’t mix that well. Mostly bananas an the taste as well. But the flavors are not very strong. The banana flavors are mostly of real bananas, but some notes of soft banana candy are here as well. However, despite the somewhat genuine character of the banana flavors, they are still not very tasty. In general, the taste is rather sweet. Fairly decent bready notes, fragile and anonymous hints of earth, carrots and hops. In the finish there is a mild bitterness that makes the taste just a little more interesting, but it’s still rather boring. Some mineral notes and banana cream towards the finish. Medium body, medium carbonation, noting more. This is not a good beer, but still not as horrible as I had suspected. Don’t know if a banana infused English ale is a good idea what so ever, so I think this one was doomed to fail no matter what it tasted like. Can’t say I would recommend it. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)