Kelly's Southern Clipper
First Flight Island Restaurant & Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

I am embarrassed for the brewer. The wheat beer that I ordered was not servable. As a brewer, if this were my beer it would be down the drain before it got near a customer. Beyond the fact that it was milky white, not straw with some cloudiness, but looked more like a white russian. Over-attenuated and under-carbonated...those unfamiliar...this means watery and flat. I hate to judge an entire establishment on one beer, but if you are a brewpub and only brew three beers, you have to get them right.

The beer pours a hazy pale straw color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a light pilsner and wheat malt scent along with a nice hefe yeast aroma. The esters produce a mildly aggressive banana/clove character. The taste is decent as well. It has a quaffable pilsner and wheat malt flavor. It's lighter than most hefes and could use more pale malt character. It goes down easy and finishes with good banana/clove flavor. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a low bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a very drinkable wheat beer. The yeast character is excellent. It just needs more malt flavor.

Served in a pint glass at Kelly's 5/17/10.

A: Served a hazy pale gold with two fingers of rocky, bright white head on top that sported decent retention but only left tiny specs of lace on the glass.

S: A nice mix of fragrant yeast (banana and clove), toasty malt, and citrus.

T: See above. Heavy citrus flavor and a slight hint of pine and grassy hops in the finish.

M: Very good for the style. Crisp and slightly sticky.

D: Quite refreshing. It was 90 degrees the day Heather and I were there. I bet they sell tons of this when the mercury creeps up over 80.

I went to Kelly's because it was the only micro brewery on Key West. A very beautiful bar/restaurant with a nice setting.

The Hef was my least favorite of the bunch but it may have been because it was 50 degrees in Key West the day I had it. Very light color and not enough aroma. Worth checking out and definitely worth it as part of a sampler.

I had this beer at Kelly's while on vacation last weekend. From my notes:

A= This ale poured a cloudy gold color, with a 1/4" white head that quickly disappeared into nothingness. Only a couple streaks of lace down my glass.

S= Definitely a wheat malt aroma, with the faintest bit of citrus-like fruity esters.

T= Not overly flavorful, but a respectable showing of wheat malt sweetness with appropriately absent hops and a mild fruitiness.

MF= Light side of medium bodied with a slightly under-carbonated feel on the tongue.

D= Not really a hefeweizen, more of an American pale wheat ale. Decent enough to drink, but I wouldn't seek it out.

Served in a goblet. Slightly hazy god color, with a lemon. Thin white head disappeared immediately, leaving a few spots of lace.

Not much in the way of aroma, some pale malt with a bit of a grainy smell. No hints of wheat, banana or clove.

Very pale malt flavor. No hint of tartness from wheat at all. A bit husky. Slight hint of zest at the end.

Light body, fair amount of carbonation. Ok, this was a major disappointment. Since it was happy hour, and only $2, I will give it a pass.

They called this Southern Clipper, but honestly, what I got was a raspberry wheat with no mistake. Pours to a cloudy dark gold with a small white head with ok retention and lacing. Aroma is pure raspberries. Mouthfeel is smooth with a light body. Taste is mostly raspberry with a touch of wheat and a very mild clean bitterness. Medium-low carbonation.

Of the three I tasted here, this was by far the best (not hard to achieve considering my other reviews). Off golden, hazy color. Light flavor, slightly wheaty, and fairly refreshing. Nothing special, but a respectable American wheat