Organic Wheat
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)

On tap at the Top 1 Forever restaurant, Royal Victoria Dock, as Samuel Smith’s Organic Wheat Beer. Hazy pale yellow colour, moderate white head. Aroma and flavour have distinct notes of butterscotch / diacetyl - not in a bad way, really, but the standard hefeweizen notes of banana and cloves are nearly hidden behind the diacetyl.

look: three finger white head which dissipates quick enough, beer is a nice hazy amber orange colour with good levels of carbonation.

smell: smells alright, all the hefe aromas in check, banana, clove, vanilla, there’s some honey, caramel, smells quite sweet, white bread biscuit malt, hint of berry arom, but it’s a bit metallic smelling

taste: on the verge of being a very good hefe but not quite, the hefe flavours are there but there a bit subdued, banana dominated, nice bit of honey, quite malty, white bread, biscuit, no bitterness on the finish, not much lingering flavour either, some sweet banana and vanilla, bit metallic.

feel: light bodied, medium carbonation, watery, bit thin, lacking in depth, however, quite crushable.

overall: despite the ratings i was still expecting big things from one of my favourite breweries and one of my favourite styles, but yeah the reviews are apt, decent hefe, not great but good enough.

L- Pours clear gold, with a white head that left lacing down the glass.
S- Mild but with typical 'Hefe' or weissbrau spicy aspects.
T- Very good, spicy coriander was prominent for me.
F- Refreshing and distinctive, eminently sessionable.
O- Very enjoyable, went well together with a good lunch of cod and chips/etc. at one of their London pubs, the Cittie of Yorke on Holborn in London. £2.45 for a 1/2 pint.

 

This seems to be an underrated one.

On tap at Ye Old Chesire Cheese - a wonderful pub indeed, with great ambiance. Served in a British style hefe glass that was long and skinny.

Very poignant and wheaty aroma that matched the taste. Slight banana and a cracking wheat flavor that is quite sharp. The mouthfeel was excellent and holds a candle to the German classic hefe's. It really tastes like a Weihenstephaner with less fruit and more sharp wheat.

Its drinkability was fine, but doesn't really compare to the drinkability of their Bitters and Milds - which is not a bad thing because its a nice change during a session.

An extremely fresh tasting beer, I would like to do a side by side taste comparison with Franziskaner and Weihenstephaner. It would be interesting.

Amber coloured, big off white foamy head which dissapates after a while.

Aroma is wheat, yeast, some cloves and sweet honeyed bananas. Flavour follows on with more of the same and a citrusy and coriander character; not as rich as the aroma though.

Feel is well carbonated, light, and a little thin on the palate.

Overall, more of a sessioning beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in London.
Hazy orange color with a thin head with medium retention and leaving lots of laces.
Aroma of orange citrus, honey and wheat.
Delicious and refreshing flavor with notes of fresh oranges, honey and bread.
Medium body with a light spicy feeling.
A very assertive and simple wheat beer, though I don't remember having tasted orange notes so fresh and natural.

 

 

 

 

Light yellow and quite cloudy in appearance with a thumb sized bubbly white head that stays for a good while at the top.

An average smelling hefeweizen, not particularly exciting but not bad either. There is some coriander and a very mild banana aroma along with some citrus. There is some wheat and a sort of floral hop aroma with a touch of spice too.

Mainly banana from the taste along with some clove and spice. Again basic but pleasant and drinkable, there is also a touch of bubblegum and coriander.

Quite sweet and almost fruity on the palate with strong carbonation and a fizzy tang to it. It was well-balanced although slightly too fizzy for me.

Not a bad beer and a bit of a rarity it seems so a nice beer to try and to cross off my seemingly endless list of hefeweizens to try.

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Appearance-
Poured from the cask at the Opera House on Trafalgar Square. This beer was a hazy pale yellow color, topped with a thin and somewhat retained white head. Signs of carbonation were persistent with bubble trains chugging up the sides of the glass.

Aroma-
Big, tart wheat aromas dominated the nose, bolstered by bold doughy aromas. Simple, but bold and enticing.

Taste-
Big bold, tart wheat up front... but this beer falls flat on the midpalate. The finish was doughy and lingering. A little less multidimensional than I would have liked. (Mind you this is an English brewery producing a classic German style)

Mouthfeel-
Thin body with prickly, bloating carbonation. This was the most disappointing attribute of the beer.

Overall-
This Hefeweizen falls short on taste and mouthfeel. I appreciate the English brewery breaking tradition and going for it, but it is evident why this beer isn't one of their flagship products.