Edelweizen
Main St. Grille & Brewing Company

 

 

 

Admittedly, this is one of my least favorite styles. The nose seemed promising at first, but things don't exactly work for me. There is honey in this? It shows. Too sweet in a way that tells me there is too much honey in there. Decent, but a tough sell to a tough crowd like myself.

 

Served on-tap at the brewpub. A hefeweizen with ample American hops and 10 lbs of honey.

A: This hefe looks more like a kristalweizen with a darker copper color, or a new style that I'll dub kristaldunkelweizen (boy the Germans know how to string together some long words...). The head resting atop my KDW is merely a thin white band, pooled near the center of the glass.

S: The edelweizen has a pungent, citrus hop aroma that is much more than the ale needs, provided that you are viewing it as a hefeweizen. As I reviewed the taste, the true style became more apparent, so see below.

T: The hoppiness is spicy, standing out immediately in the ale. So much so, in fact, that I'll call this a poor man's Gumballhead. The citrusy hops stand out above the light wheat and barley base, dominating most aspects of the beer. There is just enough tartness to remind me that it is, in fact, a wheat beer. But again, the hops are the star of the show. The honey? Ehh, it adds some heft but not enough to elbow out the hops. Only near the end of the glass did a wave of estery sweetness emerge through the morass of the hops.

M: The mouthfeel seems too hoppy until you accept this as a Gumballhead clone, then it all makes sense. I'd love to see a little more of the estery sweetness, that weizen flavor paired with the American hops could be sensational.

D: Another beer that I'd have a hard time turning down. Main St. is really impressing me with this line-up.