Bolstered by yesterday's surprise, I decided to go straight away with another Pyramid beer. I'm hoping this is more like an American wheat than a true German hefe.
Pours a cloudy orangish yellow, with a nice fluffy off white head, like a hefe should have.
Smells a little German. Slight chemical yeast smell that I'm not too happy with, but maybe it lessens in the taste.
Yep. It's very slight, and it tastes much more like an American wheat than I initially thought it would. Good beer, nice and drinkable. I may have to revisit some of the other Pyramid beers and see if I have a better opinion of them than I remember.
Showing posts with label Hefeweizen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hefeweizen. Show all posts
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Kellerweis Hefeweizen
I don’t want to dislike a Sierra Nevada beer, but this may be the first. I’m hating the European type wheats lately, but feel compelled to buy every beer from my favorite breweries. This complete lack of discretion is a bad combination at times, and I’m hoping this isn’t one of them.
Pours an unfiltered and cloudy golden. Great light tan head, decent carbonation. Huge pile of yeast on the bottom of the bottle.
Wow, I think only one other time in hundreds of beers have I ever said that a beer smelled like bananas. In fact, I fairly ridicule other reviewers who use it at the drop of a hat. But this one smells like a fruit basket. It’s a bit floral, but the banana smell was huge. Like the cheap cologne a gorilla would wear. As it warms it fades to the standard chemical smell that European wheats often have.
Cleaner than I thought. Most beers that other describe as having banana and cloves (it always seems to be both banana and cloves, never just bananas or cloves, for some reason) I describe as have a chemical, plastic, or burned plastic taste. The banana smell mellows in the taste. Still no cloves though. It doesn’t really have a chemical or plastic taste, but I’m just not wild about the style. Good bready aftertaste, but it’s still tinged with that odd European wheat taste.
Well, I won’t go so far as to say I don’t like it, or so far to say I do. It’s definitely my least favorite Sierra Nevada offering and will be giving away the other five, but I don’t regret having bought it. Too badly, anyway.
Pours an unfiltered and cloudy golden. Great light tan head, decent carbonation. Huge pile of yeast on the bottom of the bottle.
Wow, I think only one other time in hundreds of beers have I ever said that a beer smelled like bananas. In fact, I fairly ridicule other reviewers who use it at the drop of a hat. But this one smells like a fruit basket. It’s a bit floral, but the banana smell was huge. Like the cheap cologne a gorilla would wear. As it warms it fades to the standard chemical smell that European wheats often have.
Cleaner than I thought. Most beers that other describe as having banana and cloves (it always seems to be both banana and cloves, never just bananas or cloves, for some reason) I describe as have a chemical, plastic, or burned plastic taste. The banana smell mellows in the taste. Still no cloves though. It doesn’t really have a chemical or plastic taste, but I’m just not wild about the style. Good bready aftertaste, but it’s still tinged with that odd European wheat taste.
Well, I won’t go so far as to say I don’t like it, or so far to say I do. It’s definitely my least favorite Sierra Nevada offering and will be giving away the other five, but I don’t regret having bought it. Too badly, anyway.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Harpoon Brewery's UFO Hefeweizen
Always look forward to a new wheat, even with the cheesy UnFiltered Offering half-ass acronym.
Pours hazy and yellow, with a huge white head that isn't too crisp because it's unfiltered. It develops huge cells before fading to a collar, with slow carbonation.
Light and zippy smell like a wheat should have. More yeasty than malty, due to the lack of filtration. So far, I'm looking forward to it.
A bit sweet, and it's not as zippy as I'd like because it's not filtered, but that adds to the body. Although I prefer zippy to body in a wheat, this is very good for an unfiltered, which would be expected to add to the body and slow the feel a bit. Very light bitterness that fades fast. Clean aftertaste, without being too dry.
Great summer beer. Probably my favorite Harpoon so far.
Pours hazy and yellow, with a huge white head that isn't too crisp because it's unfiltered. It develops huge cells before fading to a collar, with slow carbonation.
Light and zippy smell like a wheat should have. More yeasty than malty, due to the lack of filtration. So far, I'm looking forward to it.
A bit sweet, and it's not as zippy as I'd like because it's not filtered, but that adds to the body. Although I prefer zippy to body in a wheat, this is very good for an unfiltered, which would be expected to add to the body and slow the feel a bit. Very light bitterness that fades fast. Clean aftertaste, without being too dry.
Great summer beer. Probably my favorite Harpoon so far.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Spoetzel Brewery's Shiner Hefeweizen
Well, a bottle conditioned Shiner is something to try. And they put out good lighter summer beers, if you ask me.
This one pours a hazy yellow with an amber hue and a crisp white head that quickly thins. Smells surprisingly malty, with a hint of citrus--orange, not the lemon.
A bit tart. I've had it before, and I don't remember it being this tart or this dry. The honey explains the dryness, but I thought it was much more of a wheat beer than this. As it warms it seems more like a wheat beer but the tartness never goes away. Hard to tell if it's zippy because of the wheat or the honey.
All in all a decent beer. Not quite macro, not quite craft. About right for a Shiner. Good summer beer that I'll reach for when looking for something from Texas.
This one pours a hazy yellow with an amber hue and a crisp white head that quickly thins. Smells surprisingly malty, with a hint of citrus--orange, not the lemon.
A bit tart. I've had it before, and I don't remember it being this tart or this dry. The honey explains the dryness, but I thought it was much more of a wheat beer than this. As it warms it seems more like a wheat beer but the tartness never goes away. Hard to tell if it's zippy because of the wheat or the honey.
All in all a decent beer. Not quite macro, not quite craft. About right for a Shiner. Good summer beer that I'll reach for when looking for something from Texas.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sand Creek Brewing Company's Woody's Wheat
I guess you can tell that I just got a shipment from a beer of the month club in, because this is my second beer form Sand Creek tonight. Wheats are some of my favorites, too, so I'm looking forward to this one.
This one pours a deep, unfiltered and glowingly-opaque hazy yellow with amber where the least light penetrates the beer. Looks like it's going to be one of the more substantial hefes. Fairly strong carbonation that still can't keep the light off-white head at more than a collar. That's OK though, wheats are like that.
Smells sweet, a little phenolic though. Uh-oh, I hate that, and all that it implies. Damnit it looks great, but smells like a band aid. Damnit, I have to drink it. And I know I'm not going to like it.
Yeah, it's like drinking a band aid. I always like the way band aids smelled as a kid. The ones with the plastic tan sticky parts, and the cloth ones, always smelled the same. Medicinal, like you just knew that it was going to make your cut better. Johnson & Johnson must have intentionally imbedded that smell into the materials they used to give a sense of comfort to the six year old that was about to put it on his finger. It was comforting.
Not so with beer though. It reminds me of the Belgians I no longer enjoy. It's well within type though, because hefes are acceptably phenolic. This one's better than most, too, because it's drier and a little more tart than others. I often hear that people get banana and clove tastes in beers like this, but I disagree completely with that. I like bananas, but not this. And cloves are distinctive, but this has none of the clove spice to it. I think that people taste phenols and just say clove and banana because that's what they think they're supposed to say, because this isn't even close to that.
Objectively, this is probably a good beer. It's like a Blue Moon or Shiner Hefeweizen on roids. Well within the type, leaning toward the heavier-bodied side of the style. Well worth it to folks who love Belgians, but it's just not for me.
This one pours a deep, unfiltered and glowingly-opaque hazy yellow with amber where the least light penetrates the beer. Looks like it's going to be one of the more substantial hefes. Fairly strong carbonation that still can't keep the light off-white head at more than a collar. That's OK though, wheats are like that.
Smells sweet, a little phenolic though. Uh-oh, I hate that, and all that it implies. Damnit it looks great, but smells like a band aid. Damnit, I have to drink it. And I know I'm not going to like it.
Yeah, it's like drinking a band aid. I always like the way band aids smelled as a kid. The ones with the plastic tan sticky parts, and the cloth ones, always smelled the same. Medicinal, like you just knew that it was going to make your cut better. Johnson & Johnson must have intentionally imbedded that smell into the materials they used to give a sense of comfort to the six year old that was about to put it on his finger. It was comforting.
Not so with beer though. It reminds me of the Belgians I no longer enjoy. It's well within type though, because hefes are acceptably phenolic. This one's better than most, too, because it's drier and a little more tart than others. I often hear that people get banana and clove tastes in beers like this, but I disagree completely with that. I like bananas, but not this. And cloves are distinctive, but this has none of the clove spice to it. I think that people taste phenols and just say clove and banana because that's what they think they're supposed to say, because this isn't even close to that.
Objectively, this is probably a good beer. It's like a Blue Moon or Shiner Hefeweizen on roids. Well within the type, leaning toward the heavier-bodied side of the style. Well worth it to folks who love Belgians, but it's just not for me.
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