This was picked up during a weekend trip to Seattle. After being outside in the sun, nothing sounded better than a nice, tart, refreshing beer. This one did not disappoint.
Appearance: Cloudy, straw, a little murky. Great big-bubbled head with good retention at least halfway through the glass (thank you wheat!).
Smell: Not too much aroma. There’s just a hint of that classic Belgian white smell with a little spice and orange butting up against the malty wheat.
Taste: Very light footprint with tart, yeasty flavors. Wheat coming through showcasing a hint of mellon. As expected, there’s no hop presence. A bit of malt finish in back of palette. A bit of a “dusty flavor” (for lack of a better term). As the beer warms, it opens up revealing more of the orange.
Mouthfeel: Big carbonation with a somewhat dry finish.
Drinkability: Not best I’ve had, but a very refreshing beer. Nothing overly distinctive about the beer, but is amazingly drinkable on a hot day. Doesn’t really hit the palette with a ton of flavor as I typically like, but that makes it a bit more of a simple, thirst-quenching, refresher. Nice.
Ratebeer: 3.84/5 [82 percentile]
Beeradvocate: 3.46/5 [86 percentile]
I enjoyed this beer immensely. I read something that this is one of those
type of beers that adding a fruit slice such as lemon or an orange may improve the flavor of the beer.
I’m all for fruit in beer. Beer snobbery admittedly maxed out – I usually want the brewer to take care of fruit additions during the brew process. For example, Belgian Witbiers, my latest focus, traditionally have orange zest (along with other thiings) added in the boil to add orange flavor to the beer. That combined with fruity esters put off by the yeast can underscore that flavor. Regardless, I hear you on the enjoyability of this beer. I keep kicking myself for not getting more than one!