Alpine Wit
Joseph James Brewing Inc.

Seems like its been awhile since I reviewed a Nevada beer, especially one from the shitty end of the state.

Pours a dull orange like color with 1/4" white head. Aroma like the color, a dull orange rind and spice rack made of clove and coriander.

Taste and mouth feel were pretty acidic, kind of wondering if actual orange peel was used. Like, did they dry hop this with orange rind? Bitterness is up there for style too, despite the commercial tug job proclamation of 15 ibu. Something metallicy citrus bitterness going on. When I go for a wit, I want a gripload of wheat that provides a chewy body but light at the same time. I mean, honestly, I think I would rather have a Blue Moon. I can't really figure out what they were going for in this beer. I guess it didn't smell horrible. What's up with the Alpine wit name anyways? Vegas isn't really alpine territory. Was this made with imported yellow snow? It's a solid pass for me man.

This was poured into a mug. The appearance was a cloudy golden yellow hazed over soapy white color. There was a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about thirty seconds leaving some light messy lacing roaming all over. The smell had some light spicy to sweet coriander, lemon, lemongrass, smooth sweet wheat and a light yeastiness to it. The taste took all of those previously mentioned flavors to combine decently along my taste buds. On the palate, this one sat about a light on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. A nice rolling creamy citrus yeastiness rolled over my tongue. Overall, decent witbier I could have another go around on.

 

12 ounce bottle from MarkVegas, poured into a shaker pint. The handsome hazy gold body suffers from a shortage of accompanying foam.

I'll buy the 'hint' of orange peel, but the coriander? The nose practically teems with it. Oddly enough, the coriander flavor is drowned out by a load of citrus, both sweet and sour. Frankly, it takes a little getting used to, but I find myself warming up to it. Light spice with a suggestion of funk. Tangy and bready, almost doughy at times. It's not exactly a classic example of the style, but it kinda won me over in the end.

 

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

A - Pours a cloudy yellowish color. Almost like an unfiltered wheat beer.

S - Smells like an average witbier. Hints of coriander and citrus are present.

T - Unlike other beers of this style to me. Very tart taste to this beer. I'm not against sour beers but I don't think a witbier should have this taste. Just my preference though.

M - Very low carbonation which is fine. Chalky dry finish.

Overall I was not impressed with this beer. I've had other beers of this style that have been much better. This is my first from Joseph James. Drinkable but there are others of this style I prefer.

First of all, I love the guys at joseph james, those dudes love beer and their tour/tastings are freaking awesome!

A-appears yellow in low light but to the light the hazy orange color comes out...no head

S-spices and citrus with a SMALL dash of hops

T- mellow and fruity. Citrus comes in the end. very light carbonation

M- light, almost water feeling. very easy to put down

D- Not my favorite joseph james, but it beats to death a domestic!

Recently picked this up, as it is a "local" Nevada brewer. Absolutely nothing wrong with this wit, but there's not much memorable. As others have stated, there is almost no head on it at all, and the color is a bit uneven (sometimes cloudy, sometimes clear). What it does have going for it is a solid, fresh taste. The aftertaste is a bit on the acrid side, but nothing overwhelming. All in all, a pleasant (and I should note, a popular) hot-day beer, and one I will have again. Hats off to Mr. James.

Friendly BA of mine recomended this beer to me.

I enjoyed this beer out of a 12oz bottle into a pint on 4/15/09
A- poured a orange pale hazy color, medium head with decent lacing.
s- light on the nose but nice orange tart smell. little bit of lemon but not overpowering.
T - I actually really enjoyed the very slight sweetness but there was a perfect tartness to it. great for a sumner day!
M- the sour notes and the slight spices make this a pretty darn good drinking WIT!!

WILL BUY AGAIN SOON!!

This one poured a cloudy lemonade yellow, with clumps of yeast falling out of the mouth of the bottle at the end. I had to pour it very aggressively just to get bubbles on the top, which promptly faded.

Smell was as expected for a wit. Yeasty coriander and orange peel pretty much summed up a relatively mild nose.

Taste was pretty tart overall, a bit too much for me. Notes from the nose carried on through the flavor; coriander, bitter orange peel, and wheat.

The body was pretty thin, but not bad. Carbonation was pretty high and it finished a bit chalky dry. I wouldn't recommend it.

A - Pours a cloudy yellow with almost zero head. The only reason I could say "almost" zero is because there was a light fizz at the end of the pour which was gone by the time I raised the glass to my nose. No lacing at all.

S - bold spice and orange, just like it should be.

T - Sharp coriander right up front with an orange-citrus presence throughout. Finishes with a bready aftertaste.

M - Fizzy, tingly, somewhat acidic.

D - Not the worst Wit I've ever had, but a far cry from memorable. For what it's worth, I do like the label art.

BOTM Club
Appearance - Poured into a SA perfect pint. Pours a hazy, cloudy, very light golden color. Poured hard at the end and achieved literally zero head. Lacing is non-existent.
Smell - As someone said prior, it smells a bit skunky and that does not reassure me.
Taste - Wheat is very obvious and you can taste hints of the advertised malt, coriander, and orange peel. I do not really like the taste of this.
Mouthfeel - Very low carbonation, light bodied, but relatively smooth.
Drinkability - Not much for me. This is my second take on this from the BOTM club and I drain poured the first halfway through because it was not agreeing with me and I fear this is going to be another drain pour. I feel I may have gotten a bad batch? Who knows...all I know is that I will never be seeking this beer out again.

BOM May 2009
Poured into a pint glass this brew is thin and has a yellow lemonade color with a little cloudiness from the yeast. The aroma is a strong of citrus, clove, and yeast. The taste is thin and flat. There is a strong taste of banana and clove. Not enough body in to carry the flavor. I have had very good belgian brews and this doesnt cut it. One of the only poor BOM brews I have had.

This is a beer that while one expects it to be cloudy due to its style, to me it looks more murky then cloudy. I poured it into a glass swirling the bottle when I got to the bottom to make sure to get all the sediment up and into the pour. It has an unappealing smell and the taste is bland and uninspiring for a Belgian Style Witbier. This is a beer that I do not recommend.

Enjoyed on 08.01.09 as part of a BOTM club. Poured from a 12oz brown bottle into a 14oz pint glass.

A: A pale yellow w/ the usual wit haze. Barely a head even when rolling the bottle for top-off.

S: Honestly smelled a bit skunky. No bottling date, so I can't be sure of the reason, but this turned me off for the rest of the brew.

T : A light malt, the orange/coriander. The wheat is obvious.

M & D: Low carb. Nice & smooth as a wit should be. A big slice of orange would help out here (and I am NOT usually a fan of fruit in the beer - I don't care what you say Blue Moon, err, Coors... Although in this case, the head & carbs are small to begin with, so why not?)

Thank you to jwale73 for the bottle!
Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a 10 oz. straight glass.
A - Poured very pale straw yellow with a light haze. Minimal white head that falls quickly to a skim.
S - Mild nose, a little light malt and light coriander.
T - Taste is a little more pronounced than nose. I'm getting the light malt, coriander, some citrus, wheat
M/F - Light with a very smooth, mild carbonation. Probably a little mild for the style but I like it.
D - This is an easy drinking wit, not great but certainly an easy drinker.

12oz. bottle served in a standard pint glass. Poured a pale, yellow-orange; hazy clarity. Zero head, but a light slick of foam that quickly dispersed into a thin band around the perimeter of the glass. Nose is coriander and I'm also getting some light banana esters, some bubblegum and a hint of spice. Flavors reveal wheat, citric acid, coriander and banana. Mouthfeel is light-bodied and a little watery with a light background effervescence. Easy drinking and fairly refreshing. Not a bad Witbier in my opinion.

Joseph James- Alpine Wit

A- Hazy dark orange with a bubbly and quick fizzling head. No lacing and Slightly flat looking.
S- Light on the nose. Orange peel, coriander, light touch of lemon, and pepper.
T- Sweet and sour orange lemon citrus with a light touch of pepper coriander and lavender.
M- Sour citrus dominates the body with a weak touch of spicy pepper and floral hints.

Overall- Drinkable, but weak/ watered down.

I am going to preface this by saying a am not a huge Wit fan, I have my likes which are less than a handful and most of them are from Belgium.(allagash and Ommegang are the American ones) I got a sample of this one.
one of the best things about this one had a nice hazy lemon color, no head at all which was odd to me for a wit. It had the typical scents of Citrus and spice not very over powering but nice, taste wise it is not what i look for in a wit, it was very sweet and lacked that tartness from the spice and orange peel It also didn't have good carbonation and was a little thin bodied for the style.It's from a new brewery in town and it from their fist batch, but It could use some refining