Blood Orange Imperial Witbier
Maumee Bay Brewing Company

Poured from a Crowler direct from the brewery. (Thank you again Thing2 for bringing this home!)

A - Hazy medium red orange colored pour with thick creamy orange tinted lacing.

S - Chewy wheat aroma with blood orange juiciness to really accent the nose.

T - Big wheat base with just enough juicy blood orange to accent the base while ending slightly on the sweeter side with a residual coriander spiciness, wheat residue, and some blood orange with low bitterness.

M - Big chewy body that's light on the carbonation, dries out your tongue, and leaves the rest of the mouth wet.

O - This has some beefiness for the style that I appreciate. It pushes the boundaries without being boozy and the ABV is well hidden.

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent seasonal release. Pours hazy pale golden yellow color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big lightly tart blood orange, lemon, orange peel, pear, apple, coriander, pepper, clove, light banana/bubblegum, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/earthy yeast, spices, blood orange, and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big lightly tart blood orange, lemon, orange peel, pear, apple, coriander, pepper, clove, light banana/bubblegum, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/grassy bitterness, yeast spiciness, and slight fruit tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of blood orange, lemon, orange peel, pear, apple, coriander, pepper, clove, light banana/bubblegum, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/earthy yeast, spices, blood orange, and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from bitter/spiciness, lightly increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and lightly sticky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 8.1%. Overall this is an awesome imperial fruited witbier style. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/earthy yeast, spices, blood orange, and bready malt flavors; very smooth, and pretty crisp/refreshing to drink for the ABV. Spot on witbier style flavors; nice blood orange fruit presence that does not overwhelm the base beer. A really enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

 

 

12 fl. oz. bottle
Served in a weizen glass

This beer pours orange and is cloudy. An aggressive pour yielded several inches of off white head that leaves nice lacing.

I get some coriander and clove aromas.

The flavor features the blood oranges better than the aroma. It has a nice blood orange flavor with the traditional wit flavors.

Medium mouthfeel

It is a nice wit. The alcohol is well hidden and the blood oranges enhance this beer.

12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a hazy pale golden with a small eggshell white head that falls leaving nice retention and nice lacing. There's some sediment visible. The aromas have some citrus notes along with some subtle yeast notes. There's some sweet malts present as well. Hints of banana and bubblegum in the mix also. The flavors are very nice. Orange and banana lead the way. The yeast and malts do their thing. The flavors are very clean and refreshing. Alcohol goes completely unnoticed. Mouthfeel is great. It's on the lighter side of full-bodied with active carbonation. It's very sharp and crisp. Smooth and dangerously drinkable.

This is a great Imperial Witbier. It's hard to believe that this is even an "imperial" version of the style. It's very clean and refreshing. The craftsmanship is very impressive. Well done. Definitely worth checking out if you come across it.