Whit Rapids
Ninkasi Brewing Company

Pours alight golden color with a small white head that goes away quickly. Aroma is coriander, orange zest and floral. Taste is mild coriander and orange zest with some sweetness. Not much hop bitterness or bite. I'm not a fan of Blue Moon but this is a distinct improvement over that beer, in my opinion. Rated 6-8-2023

Look: Light orange and cloudy on the pour with a lively white head that noisily settles to a pillow, leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Coriander, Belgian yeast, warmed wheat bread, orange peel, and herbal notes
Taste: Orange comes on strong on the initial sip and quickly followed by a wave of herbal notes that include coriander and subtle others I can’t pinpoint. Wheat malt and yeast hold serve in the middle before orange and spice return for the close
Mouthfeel: Full but decently light, soft, medium-high carbonation, and soft and smooth on the finish
Overall: I dig it. I love a good Witbier and stoked that a big-time brewery known for their hoppy offerings like Ninkasi made one so glad I tried it as it’s tasty. Well-made, checks the style boxes for me, and approachable enough for a Witbier novice to not be trepidatious about cracking one open while also appeasing those already established Wit fans. Recommended

cool add to their lineup, well styled, distinctive but recognizable, hard to do in the classic styles most of the time, but they do it well here. this is a little overly estery to me, like the yeast is approaching slightly stressed to me, but the beer overall is quite drinkable, even refreshing when its good and cold and consumed fast. done with the traditional orange and coriander, it almost presents more like lemon to me, subtle on the spice, more yeast reliant which is fine, its zesty and vibrant in the nose, fresh with some bitterness in the flavor, notes of white wine, kiwi fruit, not quite ripe melon, lemon and tangerine, green grape, and some new school organic dish soap, floral and sudsy. i can taste and feel some pale wheat which makes sense in here, a little white pepper with the coriander as it warms, wonderfully high carbonation, and still slightly hoppy, since this is ninkasi and thats almost always the case no matter the style for them, but its a compatible herbal vibe, almost a tea note, it works. this is real well made overall, and its cool to see something unexpected come out of this place, feel like its been awhile since i have seen anything new that wasnt a hop forward beer, obviously thats what they do best, but this is a fun one too. excited to have one or two left in the fridge for later...

 

12oz bottle

Not sure why they decided to randomly release a Wit in the winter, but I guess I’m not complaining.

Pours a finger of white head into my Heineken glass. Retention is wonderful, after a couple minutes the head has barely moved, and a small sliver lasts all the way down the glass. Lacing is fabulous. Body is straw yellow, somewhat cloudy, with a massive amount of nucleation coming up. Looks fantastic.

Nose is loaded with clove and coriander, pretty bready as well. Massive aroma, booming with character. Very nice.

Flavor is just as good, absolutely bursting with flavor. Bready, spicey, clove.

Pretty light bodied. Carbonation is medium-low, which would normally point to nucleation, but this hasn’t been in the glass very long; it’s a little unusual, but it adds a nice soft feel to a beer that also has a pillowy flavor. A little bit of sweetness is present and it really brings out that bready malt. A subtle but significant bitterness adds a nice touch. Mouthfeel brings a lot to this beer, very nice.

Drinkability is great.

Overall this is a wonderful beer. Loads of flavor, with an impressive mouthfeel.