Session Ale #55: Wheat Hop
East End Brewing Company

Wheat hop is very cloudy. Amber color. Looks like a darker hefe. The head is a soapy mucky mess. No real foam collected.

Has a pithy hop character with tart citrus and flowery notes, but a thick yeast stream flows beneath. Not very wheaty, but then again, the malts are small and pale. Slight mellowness from the aroma development.

Lots of hops with slurpy yeast proteins adding to a milder hop flavor. Still promoting leafy hops and citrusy notes (white grapefruit), but with an added nuttiness and smooth pale maltiness. Lightly wheaty. Very sessionable ABV. Easy to drink. Nice thick body with smoothed out heft and no stick. I don't mind the low carbonation because it still has some late life sizzle in the mouth. Tasty, yet taking the safe route.

 

On draft across the Burgh, this one is a pale haze golden bright color with a thin white head forming thick. Aroma has citrus and herbal hops with underlying sharp wheat notes and a nice American yeast breadiness. Citrus notes jump out as well amongst the hops. FLavor is a pale wheat malt base with herbal citrus hop finish as light and pleasant as it sounds with pungent hops at low alcohol a very nice option. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with even carbonation a touch of slick hop oils, continues to be one of my favorite beers from the session beer series that seems to come out every summer or whenever Scott feels like releasing it.

A: Pours a hazy orangish yellow color. Provides a thick off-white foam head that had moderate retention. There is some lacing as well.

S: Some mild hints of wheat, clove and banana are those most prevalent. There is also a slight undertone of pine and citrus hops but it is not overly detectable.

T: Starts off with a big amount of wheat and some spices. In the middle the citrus and pine hops blend with the wheat give it a slightly bitter taste. The taste finishes similar to the middle with more pine hops coming through.

M: Leaves a slightly grainy and bitter taste on the palate.

O: A nice balance between hops and wheat make this a nice beer for grilling out in the summer.

Pours a hazy orange-ish color with an off white head. In the aroma, a faint hop and some wheat like notes. In the taste, a pine like hop, dry banana and hints of clove. A small hop bite and lighter bodied mouthfeel, with a dry pine hop and dry citrus in the aftertaste. Nice mellow hop, with a nice wheat hint, although the nose is lacking.

Went down to East End last weekend to say hello to Scott, Brenden, and the rest of the crew. While I was there, I did the usual sampling of all their awesome beer. They had this new session ale on tap, so I gave it ago. My tongue sang a song of glory, and it went something like this:

A: Pours a nice, hazy gold orange. I expected all the haze from the wheat. Roughly 60/40 in favor of a wheat base I would guess. A nice, creamy head that left slight lacing as it crept down the glass.

S: Very grainy wheat. The wheat smell is pretty stunning, and it really takes control as I do not get any of 2-row cereal grain scent. Followed by that is a nice fresh American hop character. Although I do get some danky, almost German (Saaz?) hops. Definitely on the hoppy side for an APWA.

T: Similar to the scent. Very wheaty with an awesome hop selection. Incredibly quenchable as the growler was gone in two days. The magnificent blend of wheat and hops really made this beer stand out.

Great job Scott and the rest of the crew. This is a favourite summertime (and year-round) beer for me.