Wheat IPL
Fitger's Brewhouse

Originally reviewed April 8, 2005. On tap at the brewpub. Clear murky brown pour with a big smooth ivory head. Aromas are malt with a light hops; some pineapple. Strong banana wheat flavors at first, but these fade as you drink the beer. This is backed with a creamy smooth alcoholic glow that is refreshing instead of harsh. Raisins and cherries. AMAZING sheeting sticky lacing. Extremely smooth and velvety swallow. Seems like it was mellowed in a Bourbon Barrel, but it wasn’t. Yet, it finishes with a ubiquitous hops polish. A little bit of a dry grassy aftertaste. What a fantastic balance of hops and malt, with some wheat in the background.

Dark ruby red. Thin light tan head. Lace is spotty in pattern, but quite full in quantity. Interesting aroma of bubblegum, wheat, candy and cotton candy(?). Sweet in a non malt sort of way. The flavor is pretty sweet as well, but there's a nice dryish hop counterpart as well. Taste is candied apples, bubblegum and some dates. It kind of has an earthiness to it that fits the structure nicely as well. A little spicy too. The more I drink it, the more I like it. Mouthfeel is clean and smooth. Body is about medium-full. This is yet another interesting brew from Fitger's. Nowhere to place it stylewise, but it's good.

An imperial wheat ale....interesting...cloudy copper colored...nose is spicy, and fruity (apples) with almost a caramel like sweetness as a base...body is medium...mild carbonation....Taste begins sweet and fruity then a strong piney/grapefruit like bitterness on the finish....thirst quenching in a way and slides down rather quickly....still interesting enough to want to sip....

I like this one...not one of my all-time favorites from this top notch establishment but a unique experiment that seems to have worked out nicely

Wheat IPL, you say? Yes, IPL..India Pale Lager. With wheat malt. What the hey? Thanks for the headache, Dave Hoops! ....I'm sticking this under "American Double Pilsener", and that's that...those Hoops boys, I tells ya! But enough about "style"...and to the beer!
Orangeish amber coloration, slim, fast fading white head.
Aroma is in a class of it's own: sweet, though mild and muted, with odd properties abounding, bubblegum biggest among them, plenty of fruit, dark ones, cherries, grape, melon, but a plasticine feeling persists. Traces of corn trickle in the nose, and there's more, too, that I just am not able to finger.
But, to taste: Big, gritty, powerful command on the palate, with a peculiar, perplexing flavor. Playful hops, intriquing texture, the taste sticks in the mouth, but is so damned unusual. Definitely feels like a strong pils, but the wheat factor adds a whole new dimension. Feels like they tried to make 3 different beers at once and ended up with a brand new animal, altogether.
Seriously, this goes down as one of the most unique beers I've ever had, impossible to pigeonhole. I've got a full growler before me, and plenty of opportunity to contemplate the enigmatic associations that I haven't nailed yet. The scores I gave reflect how hard it is to come to grips with this anomaly, though I'm liking it more and more as I get into it!
cheers to fantome for bringing this back from Duluth for me...jeers for making me figure out how to classify it!