Circle City Wheat
Carolina Brewery

 

Pours a semi-hazy yellow gold. Expecting a little more haze for the style. One-finger head left the glass very quickly. Left no lacing.

Standard bananas and cloves in the nose. Some lemon present as well. Thought it was just in the accompanying lemon slice, but it was well present in the beer.

Malty sweet hit to the tongue. Dry fruitiness dominates. Finishes drier than expected as well.

Not bad.

Growler purchased at Whole Foods in Raleigh, the growler is labeled as from Chapel Hill, but the cap says Circle City Wheat, so I'm reviewing this one. Poured a crisp pale straw yellow with a thin diminishing head, not quite what I expect from a Hefe, maybe it's the growler? Update: the last pour from the growler is quite hazy, unlike every pour before it. Aroma is sweet fruits, bananas and bubble-gum, as I would expect. The taste is a nice plethora of sweet fruits, bubble gum, and decent lingering bitter hops. The beer is certainly light and crisp with decent carbonation, nice and smooth. This is a very decent Hefe that is already making for a decent session after a hot, humid North Carolina Summer day.

Carolina Brewery's Circle City Wheat is the Pittsboro location's summer hefeweizen brew, and it's presumably identical to the Chapel Hill location's West End Wheat, which I haven't yet sampled. It was poured into a standard pint glass; I was asked if I preferred a slice of orange or lemon to which I replied "neither, thank you." The color is a bright but cloudy yellow; it was so hazy one couldn't see through it at all! A lean white foam that settled on top quickly subsided and left only a scattering of bubbles to deal with. Citrus and cloves dominate the nose, while diacetyl and sweet grains lurk in the background. The traditional flavors of banana, clove, and citrus are certainly present here, and all provide a light, seasonally appropriate aftertaste. Well done!