Bananas Brulée
10 Barrel Brewing Co.

neat beer, a style i have long dug but we almost never see from american breweries these days, and they doubled down on the banana esters of this yeast by fermenting it on actual banana, a cool little deal for it, good structure, grain complexity, german essence, and overall refinement, the boise location is always so solid on the beer front, i dont think these guys get enough love from the general beer nerd world for their location specific innovation. this is great beer in the sense that it would be solid german dark wheat without the fruit, its bready and richer with a lot of character from the ferment, the right amount of residual sugar, and nice balance overall. subtle clove, anise, raisin, and dark bread to this, the wheat is evident, and there is some nice minerality, nose and flavor do basically the same thing, long and fruity, with mellow sauternes and fig notes along with the familiar banana bread character the style usually presents with. i think the added banana is well incorporated, authentic and not dominant, which was the concern for me, but they seem ripe and real and largely fermented out even though this retains some grain sweetness the whole way. a bran thing, good granola, very much a morning profile on this to me, hearty but not showing its strength really, warms up well, light maple and honey at the end. the brulee part of the name is a little misleading i think, more baked than caramelized like that, perhaps some brown sugar. i like that the banana added is subtle and doesnt run over what the yeast brings. fuller body, soft feeling from the wheat, very well executed, different but not way, super good!

Draft at Boise brewpub. Dark brown pour, spotty off-white head. Faint aroma, light roast, hint of banana. Taste brings a light bitter bite and a lot of banana, more pronounced than in a normal weizenbock. Taste tapers off, and you notice that some of the normal weizen notes like clove and bubblegum are not there, or completely obliterated by the banana. Nice try.