Samuel Adams -- Summer Ale

Sam Adams uses malted wheat, lemon peel and Grains of Paradise in their Summer Ale. 

5.3% ABV

Review:

Appearance: Hazy golden ale with a white head that disapates rather quickly for a wheat beer. 

Aroma: Wheat and lemon peel witha hint of watermelon rind.

Taste: Tart and buttery with lemon and dry apple cider notes. The bite is closer to soda than a wheat beer. There is also a little club soda saltiness. 

Mouthfeel: Crisp, citrus rind astringency. Lingering dryness in mouth. 

Side Note:

Overall:

WTF? This beer is certainly unique, but I would not say that it is great... I wouldn't even say that it's good. This is what you get when you are a lager based company that occasionally tries to make exciting ales but you are still scared to make any flavor bold. This beer is like a watered down version of something that might have been good in the hands of another brewer. It is like you took a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, poured 1/4 of the bottle into a glass and then filled the rest of the glass with luke warm water. The flavor you would get from that abomination is approximately how much enjoyment you will receive from drinking this beer. 

Sam Adams makes extremely drinkable lagers, but when they put out these seasonals that are outside their normal profile, it's embarassing. If this were a home brew, I would dump it down the drain before I would serve it to my friends.

NOTE TO JIM KOCH: quit trying to make ales taste like lagers! Keep your lagers, and just make some ales that taste like ales! 

Grade: D

Barrel Man says,

" D is for 'dump it!'"

(This bottle purchased at Liquor Collection)

Lost Coast Brewing Co. -- Great White

Lost Coast Brewing Co's Great White is made with a hint of citrus and a secret blend of Humboldt herbs.

5% ABV and 10-20 IBU's (estimated)

Review:

After the disaster that was Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly, I thought I'd follow up with a good Witbier / white beer. This beer is made in the Humboldt Nation / Emerald Triangle, but no, the "secret blend of Humboldt herbs" does not seem to include that herb.

Appearance: Pale blond. Immaculately white pillowy head.

Aroma: A bit sulfury at first. After it breathes, the sulfur dissipates.

Taste: Lemon, sweet malt, and floral rosewater.

Mouthfeel: Light and smooth, with a delightful finish.

(Side Note: check out the website. I imagine that these folks wear tie-dye all day, every day.)

Overall: 
Even though the picture is a little grainy, you can see that this is a nice light beer with all the aspects that make a great Witbier. It does have a few more hop notes than other examples, but this beer was made on the west coast, and so that west coast flair is acceptable. I think that Hitachino Nest's White Ale is probably more of an authentic Belgian style Wit, but I'm not sure that Lost coast was trying to make an authentic Wit. I think they set out to make an American White Ale, and I think they succeeded. Zesty, Lemony, refreshing... what more do you want in a White Ale?

Grade: A-

Barrel Man says, 

That is a 

"Great White."

(Bottle purchased at Liquor Collection)

Unibroue -- Blanche De Chambly

Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly is a Belgian Witbier styled ale that is supposed to have flavors or "wheat and subtle spices blanketed in citrus flavors reminiscent of orange and lemon."

 5% ABV, and 10 IBU's

Reveiw:

This beer is supposed to be light gold and hazy with light zesty flavors and aromas. Look at the picture above! Even in this low light situation you can see that this beer is nowhere near golden. It smelled very old and had chunks of hops floating in the beer. The taste was not zesty or light. Something went very wrong with this batch of beer. I'd blame age, but no matter how old this beer was, there shouldn't be solid chunks of hops floating around! 

(You can actually see 2 chunks in the picture above -- black spot in the top right of glass and black spot 1/3 of the way up and just right of center.)

This is the first beer beer I've reviewed that will get an F. 

Unibroue: Wake up! Bad brewing process here. 

Grade: F

Samuel Smith -- Organic Raspberry Fruit Ale

 

Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Ale is brewed at Yorkshire's oldest brewery and is certified organic by the USDA.

5.1% ABV

Review:
Appearance: This beer is truly purple! It is also somewhat cloudy and has a pinkish white head.

Aroma: Raspberry. No real surprise there.

Taste: My immediate reaction was that it was surprisingly sweet and sour at the same time. The other taster said it taste like Sour Patch Kids. There is no doubt that this is a fruit-forward ale and it is actually hard to detect anything "beery" about it.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation combines with the raspberry tang to create the bite that hops would normally be there for. The sweet and sour finish lingers for a long time.

(Side Note: This brewery was founded in 1758. That's right-- this brewery is older than our country!)

Overall:
This beer is boldly fruity. It is called a Fruit Ale, but it is a heck of a lot more fruit than ale. If you like fruit beers that are VERY fruity, this would be a great beer for you to try. I would pair it with a chocolate cake or, even better, a plain cheesecake!

Grade: A for style, B for my taste (Just too fruity)

Barrel Man says,
"Where's the beer?"

(This bottle purchased at Liquor Collection)

Kikuchi Brewery -- Hitachino Nest White Ale

Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Nest White Ale is a, "refreshing mildly hopped Belgian styled beer with a complex flavor of coriander, orange peel, nutmeg."

5.5% ABV and 13 IBU

Review:

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden whitish color, much lighter than it appears above. The head was yellowish white and surprisingly small for a Witbier.

Aroma: Black pepper, orange blossom, honey, slight ginger smells. As it warms, it smells more and more like a ginger lei. 

Taste: Orange blossom water, coriander, pepper and lemon zest are all present. This is a great example of what a witbier should be.

Finish: light and clean with a spicy hop/spice note. 

(Side Note: Kiuchi Brewery started over 180 years ago as a sake brewery. They still make sake there, but they also make the entire line of Hitachino Nest beers. If you are in Japan, the website says that you can brew your own beer using their equipment and they will deliver it to your house. If I were in Japan, this is how I would start my new brewery!)

Overall:
The folks in Japan have made a wonderful Belgian style Witbier. This beer is fantastically refreshing. Sweet and spicy notes playfully swirl and mix into one beautiful beer creation. If I had one criticism of this beer it would be that they didn't do anything to to give it a Japanese flair... but it is still hard to blame them for wanting to make a textbook beer without any flaws.

Grade: Solid A!

Barrel Man says,
"Fights the scurvy!"

(This bottle purchased at Liquor Collection)

Eel River Brewing Co. -- Acai Berry Wheat

Eel River Acai Berry Wheat is "a light-bodied wheat ale brewed with organic acai berries from Brazil."

4% ABV

Review:

Appearance: Straw/light gold color (picture above was taken in low light) with a light white head that is very minimal. 

Aroma: Blueberry skins, wheat, sulfur.

Taste: Wheaty tanginess with the essence of berries. There is actually very little berry flavor-- it's almost as if you are tasting the aromatics. 

Mouthfeel: Light and airy, even with the low carbonation level.

Finish: Crisp and dry.

(Side Note: This beer is actually brewed with Acai and a mix of other berries.

Overall: This is a nice light wheat beer. I like that the berry flavor is not overwhelming, but I can understand if others who enjoy fruit in their beer would be a little disappointed. The two things I think are great about this beer are that the slight fruitiness cancels out the sulfur from the yeast, and that I can tell that real berries were used. I do not like beers that have artificial berry flavor or berry extracts in them. They taste like what they are-- artificial. This is a real beer brewed with real ingredients. 

Grade: B+

Barrel Man says, 

"Is this beer, 'diet'?"

(Bottle purchased at Liquor Collection)

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co -- Weizenbock -- Beer Camp

Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp #37 beer, the Weizenbock is a "bock" strength dunkelweizen that was brewed at the Sierra Nevada brewery with the input of the German beercampers.

6.8% ABV

Review:

Appearance: Light copper color with a thick white head

Aroma: Cloves, Bananas, bubblegum, and a light grain husk note. 

Taste: Sweet and then tangy with a sour and clove dominated finish. Though it is not a lager, the alcohol comes through in a way that is reminiscent of the high gravity lagers and malt liquors that come in tall cans and 40's.

Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel with a creamy texture that fades to a sour/tart/dry finish. 

(Side Note: This beer was brewed with the same yeast as Kellerweiss.)

Overall:

I think that the high gravity of the wort may have stressed this yeast strain and caused the certain malt liquor feel that I am picking up on. In any case, if you like dunkelweizens this beer may be for you. I found it uninspiring. 

Grade: B-

Barrel Man says,

"Entschuldigung, 

Deutschlanders." 

(This Bottle Purchased at Liquor Collection

the only place I've seen them for sale individually and in the 12 pack.)