Millstream Brewing Company's John's Grocery Generations White Ale

I realize that there's a bit of a scramble to find beers that are light enough to appeal to the average beer drinker, different enough to stand out, and still have enough flavor to pass as a craft beer. But enough with the Belgian Witbiers, already.

This one looks like they almost all do--cloudy yellow with an orange-ish haze and a crisp white head. The head on this one is actually bigger than most, but still fades quickly to a collar. Better carbonation than most, it appears as well.

Right off the bat there's that odd, flat, smell that in many wits is a strong chemical smell. It's what a lot of people call "banana and cloves" because Michael Jackson no doubt said it about a wit at one time, and now everyone thinks they're supposed to use that description with this style. I have yet to really feel it to be accurate, and this one has no cloves, but I'll be damned if it doesn't smell like rotten bananas at first. That subsides a bit and gives way to the chemical smell that I see more often. I guess this particular combination will always hit me in a certain way. Kind of like how some people are genetically averse to cilantro (tastes like freezer burn to me), this combination of malt and spice will always smell like the chemical smells that are given off by new plastic.

Oddly enough, it tastes better than most wits to me. I'm surprised. Still has the banana, but it's maltier than most wits. It has a bitterness that seems to come from adjunct grains, more specifically a rice zip and aftertaste that remind me of Budweiser. The aftertaste is scarily similar to Budweiser.

Eh. If I had to choose a wit this would be the one. But I'll pass on the others that I have. Still, I'm glad to have had it and I'm very much looking forward to their stout lager.