Halfmoon Hefe Weizen
Charleston Brewing Company

This review is from 13 March 2012.

The quick white head leaves no lacing over a gold beer with yeast particles in suspension. The yeast does settle out with a few minutes.

Aside from light astringency, there is not much going on here.

My Harp nonic wanted to repel this beer, however, I was able to detect some apple and a long, weird, sweet finish.

Medium body with light carbonation and an oily texture.

One could finish this beer out of respect for the brewer’s effort. Whatever it is, it is certainly not a Hefeweisen on any level. This is all so sad, as I always look forward to new experiences.

Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine March 07

Not too much background on this beer, mostly due to the fact that their website sucks.

Properly poured with the yeast swirled into the glass, a good two fingers of foam dropped down to a thin ringed lace in a snap. Pale, golden color is cloudy from the yeast. Smells of fresh-cut lemons and tart plums, with a touch of brash spice and grain in the back. Middle-of-the-road smoothness and moderate body leaves the mouth waiting for something extra. Somewhat decent malt backbone is overtaken by a lemony and spicy-clove flavor. Minimal hops with some yeast, middle to end. Finishes on the dry side with residual spice and a grain flavor.

Hmm. After having countless, traditional Hefeweizens, our bar is raised pretty high. Charleston's version simply lacked in presentation and balance. Could have used a slightly stronger malt presence and less carbonation, which is odd given its lack of head retention.

Thanks to Mikesgroove for this bottle.

12oz. brown bottle poured into a Weizen glass. No dating.

A: Pours a pale straw with little clouding. A short head forms and dies immediately. No lacing.

S: Very fruity. The obvious banana and bubblegum scents but also peach, apricot, and maybe some mango. A touch of clove in the back that took some looking for. Light malts, a touch a sweetness. Not finding much of a yeast character.

T/M: Lots of natural-like fruity sweetness. More of the fruit basket going on. Clove is still on the weak side, as is the malt flavor and yeast character. Spaghetti O's? Lol, that thought keeps popping into my head and I don't know why. Maybe it's the sweetness of it? Maybe a sweet Tomato-esque smell and taste? Lol, I have no clue. Body is light but not very crisp for the style.

D: ABV seems low and it's pretty drinkable. It's tasty and I especially like the unique fruity combo. However, it's definitely missing some key components.

Thanks to mikesgroove for this one
Bottle poured into my Weizen glass produced a good two fingers worth of white head. That turned to a slight ring of lace around the glass. The body of this one was a hazy golden yellow

The aromas of wheat, bananas and clove fill your nose typical to the style.

Mouthfeel is light, clean and crisp from the carbonation. Flavors of wheat, with a little citrus sourness to it filled my mouth.

This is a nice representation of a Hefe not one of the best but a good try. Easy to drink I could kick back a few of these on a hot day

I was in SC last week visiting my brother and figured i try a beer brewed by Charleston Brewing Company while i was there.

I chose their Halfmoon Hefe Weizen.

The beer poured clear and golden with a small light head with minimal retention.

The beer smelled of fruit and banana. The taste was nothing exciting. Very light and very fruity. Not much of anything going on. I didn't taste much of any hops or malt.

Overall a very unimpressive Hefe Weizen. I would not ever drink this again.

Poured from a bottle to a weizen glass. Had an amber color with a surprisingly thin (for a hefeweizen) consistency. Very little head or lacing.

Smell consisted of wheat, some citrus, but was underwhelming on the whole.

Very thin taste. You get some wheat and fruit, but it's too watery to do any good. Also, there was a metallic finish.

Distinctly undercarbonated beer. Not much of a mouthfeel on this one.

This is not a particularly drinkable beer, especially when placed against superior European hefeweizens. It's possibly the thinnest of its style.

Bottle courtesy of Unclemattie: Poured a clear golden color weizen with a small bubbly white head with minimal retention. Aroma is quiet sour with some light wheat also present. Taste is quite weak with very light notes of wheat and a sour finale. No banana or cloves notes could be noticed. Body is really thin with marginal carbonation. I am glad I was able to try a beer from SC but definitely not a beer I will seek again.

Faintly foggy 24-karat gold beneath an ivory cap that is snap... crackle... and popping its way into the immediate atmosphere. There's not one bit of stickiness to the foam, and, therefore, no lace appears on the glass. I'm underwhelmed so far.

The nose could be stronger, but at least the usual hefe weizen scents of banana and clove are present and accounted for. Although it's hard to tell from the aroma alone, it doesn't smell like this Chareleston Brewing Company offering will be an outstanding version. I hope I'm wrong.

I'm not wrong. Half Moon is a garden-variety beer ('bog standard' for you Brits) that can't hold a candle to the German masters. In fact, I've had any number of American versions that blow it out of the water. Pleasant? Sure. Easy to drink? You betcha. More than forgettable? Nope.

The flavor profile gets the basic colors right, but it doesn't shade them correctly. A too light malt backbone is countered by a mild fruitiness and almost no spiciness. More of just about everything is needed for this beer to stand out in any meaningful way. No off-flavors is a minor positive.

More ingredients (read: more barley and wheat malt) would do wonders for a mouthfeel that verges on frankly watery. The carbonation is so finely fizzy that it helps rather than hinders drinkability.

I would have preferred Full Moon Hefe Weizen. In the absence of that, I would have gladly settled for a true Half Moon Hefe Weizen. What I got instead was Quarter Moon Hefe Weizen. Charleston BC has some work to do if they hope to be taken seriously as craft brewers.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy honey color with a moderate head that drops to a ringlet and fails the lace test

Smell: Moderate clove and banana esters with a musty element as well

Taste: Starts with a lemon and clove flavor that builds in tartness by mid-palate; after the swallow, it all fades away with an aqueous residual flavor that has some lingering lemon

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with plenty of carbonation

Drinkability: There are so many better hefes out there, its not really worth seeking this one out again

The beer pours a gold color with a thin white head that fades to spotty lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a light pale and wheat malt scent along with a mild banana and clove aroma (not very impressive). The taste is average. It has a light and watery pale and wheat malt flavor that goes down easy and finishes clean and crisp. The yeast contributes little to the taste. There is only a slight banana and clove flavor. The mouthfeel is good. It is a low bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is an average hefe at best. It's an easy drinker, but not the best example of the style.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle to a Hefe glass, the liquid is a true semi clear yellow with ok carbonation. The head was a 2 finger, fluffy white, not bad but a hefe should do a bit more.

The smell is nice, mild banana and cloves, ture to style. Nice

The taste follows and is very good. Not as good as most of it's German for fathers but a very good sub.

The mouthfeel was good nice body a good feel but I would like a bit more bubble and some more yeast.

The drinkability was good very refreshing and clean tasting. Prosit MK

Thanks to timtheenchanta for this via trade in the little guy bif! I have to say that hefes seem to be a tough style and hit or miss with me. I think this one's within the style and happily a hit for me!

A - slightly cloudy yellow / almost gold colored body with a small white head that quickly fades.
S - strong clove and light citric aromas dominate.
T - similar to the smell but with a lasting intriguing spicyness
M - light bodied, mildly carbonated.
D - Very refreshing and enjoyable. Definitely a nice brew on a warm day.

12 oz. bottle into an Aventinus glass.

Appearance: Even with a swirl at the end of the bottle before being poured into the glass, it's still yellow, a bit too clear for what I had hoped, and there's not a lot of head as I had expected--it dissipates quickly and settles more toward the outer edge.

Smell: Citrus upfront, along with some phenolic earthiness, some slight clove, slight banana, and a lot of vanilla, which ends up complimenting everything else into a fairly balanced aroma.

Taste: A lot of citrus and vanilla at the forefront, with some bread crust, earthiness, yeast, and banana and clove near the end and the finish. Little hops, but a lot can be offered, I think, from this brew, and I'm enjoying it very much.

Mouthfeel: Nicely carbonated, medium to heavy body without anything becoming cloying by the end.

Drinkability: This was around $7 for the six pack, which I think is pretty astounding (considering many macros in styles not as bold would be about the same), which makes me say, if it wasn't marked wrong, you should certainly try it. Granted, this is a tough style I imagine to reproduce not only domestically, but also in a micro, and I think they've done some great things with this. Looking forward to more from the brewery.

This beer was poured into a weizen glass from the bottle.

This beer pours a dull gold with a huge head that does not hold at all or lace well. Additionally this is definitely a filtered wheat beer so this one does not have any of that hazy characteristc associated with most wheat beers. The beer smells mostly of strong wheat with some distinct spicy undertones that come through with the wheat aromas. The taste is very spicy up front with the wheat characteristic coming afterwards. Overall a very wheat beer. The mouthfeel is average, could be a little thicker and a little less carbonated but its not bad. Overall a very drinkable beer but in my limited Wheat beer experience I almost feel that this one is a little bit more of a Whitbier than a HefeWeizen but not bad at all.

Poured into an oversized wine glass. It poured a dark cloudy gold color with a very thin off white head that doesnt stick around for long at all. The smell is nice, hints of fruit and wheat. Nice malty hoppy taste with hints of barley. Select yeast and hops. Great carbonation with nice crisp mouthfeel. Very easy to drink. This beer is brewed and bottled by Frederick Brewing Company, Frederick, MD. for Charleston Brewing Company, Charleston, SC.

Not a bad offering from Charleston Brewing Company. I believe it's the third installment of their brews. Haven't seen this one at the bars yet, but I got this one in a bottle. The head started out fairly big and fluffy, but died out very quickly, to little laceing. The smell was quite nice, with a strong hint of smoked meats, citrus, grains, and some hops. The taste was just as busy, but managed to combine all the elements of the smell nicely. Overall it was a very drinkable beer. Something that will frequent my fridge, especially during the warmer months.