Crystal Weiss
Spanish Peaks Brewing Co.

Crystal WeissCrystal Weiss
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From:
Spanish Peaks Brewing Co.
 
Montana, United States
Style:
Kristallweizen
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
77
Avg:
3.23 | pDev: 15.48%
Reviews:
34
Ratings:
37
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 24, 2014
Added:
Apr 12, 2008
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Rated: 3.5 by a77cj7 from South Dakota

Nov 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by djrn2 from New Jersey

Nov 15, 2013
 
Rated: 4.75 by Pillowburn from Michigan

Jul 19, 2012
Photo of Brenden
Reviewed by Brenden from Ohio

3.55/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
I've been lazy with review lately. Notes are a few days old.

The color is about amber, a little less orange and a little more burnt gold. There's a touch of chill haze but it's otherwise clear. A white head starts off about one finger high but fades pretty quickly. The foam, however, is quite thick, sitting heavily and sticking around. It drops moderate lacing about.
The aroma is of malts with a bit of sweetness and wheat with a yeasty overtone. It's lightly grainy, with a very light dose of hops and a grassy note to it.
The taste is essentially the same. This beer is lightly hopped with grass and grains undertones that have a gently sweet edge. Overall, there's a bit of tartness under wheat with the distinctive sulfuric note of Saaz hops.
The body is medium on the lighter side, with a plentifully crisp bite that edges into smooth with a carbonation that remains active all the way through.
Here's the deal with this one: as a Kristalweizen, this beer is essentially an unfiltered hefe; while this is a good beer, it offers very little by way of hefeweizen similarities. Points have to be taken off for style.
Aug 31, 2011
Photo of Retsinis
Reviewed by Retsinis from Arizona

2.92/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
This beer was picked up at Total wines as part of a mixed six pack.

A: The beer pours a murky golden copper, and a small ring of bubbles formed in the glass. No lacing.

S: Some whiffs of sweet tangaries, light syrup, piney hops, mild caramel, mild malted wheat barly.

T: A little bit sweeter than I was expecting, and some of the nose is mirroed in the taste, mild pine, syrupy malt, light citrus, wheat going into the finish.

M: Light mouth, crisp, a bit on the light side as far as carbonation.

O: Okay. Average. Nothing particular bad about it, but nothing fantastic either. would not pass it up if offered on a hot day, but would not seek it out either.
Apr 21, 2011
Photo of Zorro
Reviewed by Zorro from California

3/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Chill hazed amber colored beer with a small white head.

Smells sweet with a candy and bread scent not unlike banana bread. There is a faint ginger snap aroma here.

Starts out sweet with a bit of bitterness. Tastes like banana bread. Mildly sweet with a decent hop bite.

Mouthfeel is OK.

Drinkability is OK. Think sweet lager when you drink this. Slight hefeweizen flavor but it is cleaner.
Oct 04, 2010
Photo of Kinsman
Reviewed by Kinsman from Nevada

2.94/5  rDev -9%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Clear light amber body with a minimal white head that quickly fades without leaving much behind.

Smell has a notable wheat character, with phenolic and spicy hints. No hop aroma perceived.

Taste is bready and wheat like. Again nothing from the hops and only the slightest phenolic and caramel flavors.

Mouthfeel is light and bubbly. Overall an enjoyable, crisp wheat beer, however it seems to blend into an already flooded wheat beer market.
Aug 26, 2010
Photo of allergictomacros
Reviewed by allergictomacros from Canada (ON)

3.45/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A - Clear gold with a small head.

S - Slightly fruity,vegetal and caramel nose.

T - Faint maltiness. Lots of sweet, light bitterness and a bit of alcohol as well. A little bit of complex maltiness with a light toast and caramel.

M - Light body but not watery. Sharp carbonation.

D - Doesn't start off strong, but this one kinda grew on me a little bit. Still, not something I would drink often.
Mar 16, 2010
Photo of Goliath
Reviewed by Goliath from Illinois

2.79/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Pours a hazy yellow color (what's with the haze?) and was presented to me with no head, although a thin collar of white foamed covered the circumference of the glass.

The aroma is ok. There's a bit of lemony citrus, but really not much else.

The taste follows suit. There's a bit of lemon citrus, with a bit of toasted bread and not much else.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with an average dose of carbonation.

Drinkability is moderate. The flavor profile is a bit boring which really doesn't entice me to return to the glass. However, the beer is easily sessionable which can be a plus. For me it's not a good kristal, nor is it a great "beer" in general terms.
Jan 04, 2010
Photo of whtguitarguy
Reviewed by whtguitarguy from Virginia

2.82/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Cloudy amber color, with a little bit of a head, but it took some vigorous pouring to get it. Nose has a bit of yeasty and some fruity notes but nothing too special.Taste is smooth, not bitter, not like a weiss but more like a pilsner. A little bit of hops come through.
Dec 24, 2009
Photo of albern
Reviewed by albern from Massachusetts

2.99/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Spanish Peaks claims that this beer has been judged one of the "world's best wheat beers" from the GABF and World Beer Cup. This is a pretty sad indictment of both of those venerable competitions, because this beer is an adequate and inoffensive wheat beer and that's about all. It pours a slightly hazy orange amber color with decent carbonation, no head, zilch. The nose is good, with a honeyed flavor, maybe some lemon notes, some florals too.

The beer is just thin, watery, bland, and uninteresting. Yup, there is some yeast, some sweeter malts, some honeyed flavors. This beer is just so mediocre it's not worth spending more written words on. It's okay, there just isn't much to this beer.
Dec 05, 2009
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

2.78/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
Autumn pumpkin orange with several ascending lines of boisterous bubbles and no visible yeast (hence the Crystal of the name). A thick chunk of ecru colored foam appears on the pour and settles into a firm creaminess, while chubby streamers of suds decorate the glass.

The nose features malt over hops or yeast. The beer is lightly toasted earthy with a hint of musky fruit peel. I'm not sure if adding Munich and caramel malt to a beer of this style was such a wonderful idea. Kristalweizens are such strange brews. Hey, let's filter out the best part of a hefeweizen (the banana and clove yeast esters). Doesn't make sense.

The flavor profile is odd and was entirely predictable. Crystal Weiss tastes like 50% weak Oktoberfest and 50% American pale wheat ale. That isn't a stellar combination, especially for someone who counts those two near the bottom of his most favored styles list. I'd be surprised if this stuff flies off the shelves.

Flavors include lightly toasted white bread (complete with crust), a small handful of baked peanuts and a hint of woodsy herbs. Neither Saaz or Hallertau add much flavor and they contribute only a modest countering bitterness that brings things into relative balance by the end of each mouthful. If blinded, kristalweizen wouldn't have been among my first 10 guesses.

The mouthfeel is better than decent. It's bigger than most 4.5% lagers or ales and the carbonation does what it needs to do without being too lazy or too energetic. Because highlights are hard to come by, we'll take it.

Spanish Peaks Brewing's Crystal Weiss American Style Clear Wheat Beer is the strangest, most off-style kristalweizen to have ever entered my glass. If you like weak-in-the-knees Oktoberfests and hate hops, then this might be the beer for you. It isn't the beer for me.
Nov 02, 2009
Photo of matty
Reviewed by matty from Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Golden colored beer with a rapidly fading thin head.Aroma is a splash of citrus fruit.Taste is bready and again a splash of some citrusy fruit.Pretty smooth and goes down like water.Overall a pleasant experience!I would recommend and would purchase again.
Oct 09, 2009
Photo of GRG1313
Reviewed by GRG1313 from California

1.74/5  rDev -46.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
Pours a crystal clear orange with nice brightness in color with a short, thin white head that leaves a very light single bubble layer.

Nose is a very light, unassertive pale fruit and yeast. Have to really search for the nose here.

Mouthfeel is thin, watery and with no body or character.

Unfortunately, flavors follow. Light simple fruit, simple yeast flavors that are insignificant and unappealing. This beer tastes like "strong water," at best. No character whatsoever. Cannot think why you'd drink this other than to quench a genuine thirst and you didn't have water available.
Sep 12, 2009
Photo of Halcyondays
Reviewed by Halcyondays from California

3.84/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12 oz. bottle from the Total Wine,

A: Pours a dark gold with a fizzy white head, no lace.

S: Really nice smell, very floral, smells a lot like a pils with all the Saaz.

T: Honey and sweet bready malt form the main flavour with nice Saaz hop backbone.

M: Crisp carbonation, creamy, smooth, light-bodied.

D: I like this American wheat beer a lot, much better flavour than the pallid efforts I so often find in this and similar categories. Good job Spanish Peaks.
Aug 10, 2009
Photo of tatoodkelt
Reviewed by tatoodkelt from Maryland

3.15/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Picked this one up as a single while in Michigan for a wedding.

Bottle poured into a shaker glass 7/26/09 from notes.

A- Hazy gold, a quarter inch bubbly white head that disapeared pretty quick, active carbination and very little lacing.

S- Slight wheat and hop aroma with a hint of citrus. Lemon maybe?

T- A little bitter, a little sweet, some hops, malts and again the faint citrus presence.

M- Light body, smooth with medium carbination.

D- Fairly easy to drink but not something I'd session.
Jul 27, 2009
Photo of TheManiacalOne
Reviewed by TheManiacalOne from Rhode Island

3.65/5  rDev +13%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a deep gold color, with a thin white head that fades very quickly and leaves very little lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of honey, wheat, light malts and a touch of hops.

T: The taste is sweet up front with flavors of honey and a little citrus followed by a strong wheat flavor. The malt character is thin but on-target for the style and there's a decent hops presence. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Smooth and very crisp, light-to-medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean.

D: Tasty, goes down very easily, not filling at all, mild kick, decent representation of style, this is a good, flavorful, lighter beer to drink for a while.
Jun 07, 2009
Photo of tmoneyba
Reviewed by tmoneyba from Ohio

3.1/5  rDev -4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Bottle in Belmont Party.

Poured clear amber color with an average frothy white head that was mostky lasting with good lacing. Moderate citrus wheat aroma. Light to medium body with soft carbonation. Light sweet flavor with an average sweet finish of short duration.

Drinkable average brew.
Feb 22, 2009
Photo of nebula1999
Reviewed by nebula1999 from Connecticut

3.08/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Bought this one discounted at my local packi for $3.99 a 6pk. Cases of it left too. Made me wonder if it'd be any good.

Very slight aroma of hops and grain, maybe some apple? Hardly any head retention after the the pour. Nice clear strawberry-blonde color. Entry is an unoffensive wash of light fruit, citrus, pear and apple with mild grain thrown in. Some hops kick in with a gritty feel that dries the roof of the mouth leaving a tart aftertaste.

Has that "summer brew" taste that is so popular and people seem to love on a hot summer day (even though it's early February as I write this). This is not a summer seasonal, but it just reminds me of one.

Overall a respectable beer that I could easily have several of in one sitting. Not great by any means, but at least I didn't pour it down the sink which I had done with many discounted beers from my local store.
Feb 06, 2009
Photo of Gutensheisse
Reviewed by Gutensheisse from Texas

2.35/5  rDev -27.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
I have lived in Germany for 7 years, I know a krystalweissen, I know what it looks like, I know what it tastes like.

This "Crystal Weiss" has NO banana OR clove esthers whatsoever. I highly doubt that wheat was used more than 15 to maybe 20% of the malt due to piss-poor head retention.

I'm sure they used Saaz hops for the bitterness at 60mins, and maybe hallertaur for flavor and aroma. Curious to see what type of yeast used, tastes like California ale. Infact this beer is pretty much not a weissen, it falls into the amber/marzen category.

I'm writing Spanish peaks brewing Co. after I'm done here to further vent.

Highly do not recommend! Filter a Sam Adams hefe with a coffee filter and you've got a better krystalweissen.
Jan 31, 2009
Crystal Weiss from Spanish Peaks Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 77 out of 100 with 37 ratings