Michigan Wheat
Saugatuck Brewing Company

12oz bottle, the guest star in the current Saugatuck mixed pack.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale copper amber colour, with a teeming tower of overly puffy, rocky, and somewhat creamy bone-white head, which leaves some chunky swaths of streaky, sudsy lace around the glass as it very slowly abates.

It smells of grainy, kind of bready wheat malt, muddled citrus fruit, a bit of white and black ground pepper, faint earthy yeast, and some floral, earthy, and leafy hop bitterness. The taste is gritty, grainy wheat and pale malt, a reduced pithy citrus acerbity, edgy and bordering on phenolic yeast, and more relatively peppy leafy, weedy, and floral hoppiness.

The bubbles are quite active from the get-go, obviously, and persist in their tacky frothiness, the body medium-light in weight, and sort-of smooth, the yeast taking a minor ounce or so of proverbial flesh here. It finishes off-dry, but trending towards the latter, as the fruitiness sags, and the yeasty wheatiness keeps 'er between the ditches.

Overall, a kind of weird offering, as at first I thought I had me a case of the ol' infection, but really, it just seems like this brewery bottle-conditioned this puppy for some damned reason. The overwrought fizziness and bubble formation detracts from the underlying whole, which is simply a plain and easy-drinking wheat beer from the American (near) heartland.

 

 

 

 

 

I like it more than most people

$9.99 sixer from The Copper Vine. 12 oz. bottle dated 050515 poured into a weizen glass. Sweet label art that represents all the coasts.

A- The golden body clouds nicely with a yeast pour, becoming a hazy, golden-orange with heavy carbonation. The 1-1/2 finger, dense, off-white head sustains itself at 1/4 finger and leaves awesome, thick, pillowy rings.

S- Fresh and a little sweet. A lot of orange and a little gummy (more juicy fruit than bubble). Some grainy aroma lends to something a fruit loops (keeping with the Michigan references and Kellogg's). Some yeast and cream of wheat. A tiny bit of black pepper.

T- Orange zest with hints of lemon and grapefruit. At 4.7% ABV and 25 IBUs, I dare say it's almost hoppy for the style. Sweet malt backbone that does its best to stand up to the hopping. Clean finish.

M- Medium body is creamy. Moderate carbonation and a dry, citrus finish.

O- An easy drinker for sure. While not a hop bomb, it seems hoppier than some of favorite American Wheat Ales. I'd definitely buy it again for a summer thirst quencher or session beer. Probably a crowd pleaser for a cookout as well. I love that the ingredients are Michigan sourced.

 

 

 

 

Just not a good beer...