Apprentice Series Aloha Ale
White Birch Brewing

Batch One - 5/5/10

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with a fizzy head that fades with speed

Smell: Cidery, with ginger and band aid tones

Taste: Band-aid tones dominate the front end, with a tart green apple finish; some spicing in the middle adds a sharp ginger tone

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with fizzy carbonation

Overall: I certainly cellared this beer for far too long but from reading the reviews it was not very good to begin with

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beer served in a Bruery tulip, not a fan.

Beer is yellow with a mild haze, a big head that disappears quickly, no lacing, moderate carbonation.

Aroma is bretty and sweet.

Beer is thin and oaky at the finish with a mild sourness and a harsh beginning. The overall beer does nothing for me but get me drunk, the more I drink the less I want to continue. Normal but my fear grows. Not a good introduction to this nanobrewery.

22oz bottle purchased at Table & Vine, West Springfield, MA. Batch Two, Bottled May 25, 2010, Bottle 343 of 408.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1" bright white head over the clear golden brew. Large-bubbled head disappears before my eyes, with leggy, sporadic lacing. Aroma is sweet, citrus, and funk, not necessarily in that order.

Taste has a peek of sweet wheat upfront, twinge of citrus in the middle, and comes together earthy to the close. Mouthfeel is reasonably smooth, and drinkability is pretty good as well. This one falls somewhere in the middle, although for disclosure, wit is not my favorite style.

Will pour a five+ finger white head that fades quickly leaving traces of lace. Hazy pale yellow/amber color, ton of yeast left in bottle. Fierce carbonation and medium bodied. Nose is Belgian yeast and flavor is tart Belgian yeast and fruit. Bottled 5/25/2010, $9.99 for a 22oz bottle (batch two, 347 of 498) from Julio's Liquors Westborough, Ma.

Thanks to beertrader for sending me this brew to sample in a trade from the summer of 2010. Labelled as bottled on 3/4/10, sampled/reviewed on 10/14/10.

Appearance was golden honey in color with 2 finger head, impressive retention.
Smells like a mix of Belgian Wit meets Saison aroma, followed by lights malt/wheat and a dash of tart aromas as well.
Tastes as it smells with a nice subtely sweet finish. A dahs of citurs and spice/coriander? sneaks in.
Mouthfell is medium/thin with medium+ carbonation.
Drinks nice as a subtley spiced wit, more mellow than a Hoegaarden but still to style in my opinion.
FYI: Amazingly similiar to my homebrew recipe with t58 yeast.

My first white birch beer! Batch two, 306 of 408. Bottled may 25th.

A. The cap came off with no fizz at all. I was a bit worried that the beer would be entirely flat, but it came out alright plenty of big bubble. Head on a bright yellow orange body that is quite a bit more murky than anticipated.

S. Tons of citrus. Banana, clove, and zippy malt character.

T&m. This tastes like a fruity saison, but it works quite well. Plenty of tart lemon like crispness with a bit of banana. Enough carbonation to keep it light on the tongue, and a dry saison-like finish.

D. Very refreshing! If anything, maybe a bit too tart, but that is nitpicking. This would be great in the summer for sure.

A - Murky deep golden copper, a little darker than I prefer for this style. Standard fluffy white, long lasting head with a little lacing.

S - Sweet pilsner malts, with a light tart acidic aroma. Intriguing. A big fruity ester profile of apples and citrus and a little bit of banana.

F/M - Delicious tartness blends perfectly with the sweet candy-like pilsner and bready malts. Light lactic acidic bite. Light funky barnyardy character is also very well balanced. Low hop bitterness, clean and dry finish. Medium-light bodied with moderately high carbonation.

D - Dry, tart, refreshing, delicious, funky, and easy drinking. I could definitely put down at least another bottle.

I had high hopes for this. It's a very limited edition with a cool apprentice story behind it and it's a wit beer and I seldom find anything not to like about those.

Poured a big 2" head at first but quickly dissipated to next to nothing. Very light hazy tan. Like the back label says it does have fruit notes and spice. True. However to me those notes come across almost more like some sake's - and I've never really liked sake. And though they say this is Belgian style it just doesn't hold a candle to most of what you can get from there.

Add in the fact it was over $11 and I'm left unsatisfied.

From 08/26/10 notes. Had at a local DC tasting.

a - Pours a murky, pale yellow color with 1 inch of white head and light carbonation evident.

s - Smells of fruit malts, lactic, spices, lemon, and citrus.

t - Tastes of bananas, fruity malts, spices, and lemon.

m - Medium body and low carbonation.

d - An ok witbier, but nothing really stood out about it to me. Would probably give another shot, but wouldn't seek out.

Bottle from a trade with sisuspeed - thanks!

Pours a mildly hazy lemon-yellow color with a 1.5-finger white head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of light amounts of lemon peel with larger amounts of light malt and wheat twang. Also present are large amounts of phenols and hints of fusel alcohol.

Tastes even more phenolic and muddled than it smells. Light malt and wheat flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by a combination of phenols and mildly tart lemon peel flavors. The alcohol really shows itself midway through the sip and the ending is muddled. The last pour with a lot of the yeast was better but I'm not sure if that's because the beer had a chance to warm up quite a bit or if it was actually due to the addition of the yeast.

Mouthfeel is OK. It's on the lighter side with active carbonation.

Drinkability is not that great. I didn't have the easiest time finishing my glass and I would turn down another.

Overall I got the sense that the fermentation temperature was too high on this beer - I've run into the same off-flavors in my homebrew and have narrowed it down to that cause. Not worth seeking out, but if you already have a bottle try and get the yeast broken up as it may help things a bit.

Presentation: Poured from the bottle directly into my Allagash glass. This bottle is a couple months old, it was the last one on the shelf at a store I frequent.

Appearance: Straw yellow in color with loads of yeast floating around the glass, even more so the second pour. One finger light, white head with almost no retention.

Aroma: Lemon, citrus, tart green apple, and a variety of spice. Really potent, almost more like a saison than a witbier. The variety of spices work nicelt together.

Taste: Much like the aroma, big fruit notes and a variety of spices. Lemon and tart apple provide a little sourness that counters with the sweet citrus notes. Some corainder and clove blend in nicely as well. This is almost too strong for a wit though. The big flavors sacrifice a little in terms of refreshment.

Mouthfeel: Pretty heavy bodied for the style. Some nice carbonation to keep it crisp though.

Drinkability: The ABV does have some effect on this beer. The flavor is big, but its not as refreshing as I would prefer. It doesn't suffer the big booze of Sam Adams Imperial White, but something could be improved here.

Overall, an enjoyable wit that suffers only in that it lacks a refreshing character. The flavors are nice (although more common for a saison in my opinion) and work well together. Definitely an interestingbrew and worth a try.

A: Hazy orange-yellow body. Puffy white head. Settled fairly quickly and left only the lightest traces of lace.

S: Bright citric notes of lemon and orange, as well as some wheat, banana, and clove.

T: The lemon and orange cut through upfront and are quite nice. The banana, clove and wheat come toward the middle and end. Fairly simple though and not richly layered.

M: Medium bodied with assertive carbonation. There is quite a bit of astringency in the finish that takes away from the flavor and also reduces the refreshing quality that should be here. As the beer warmed the astringency declined but didn't disappear.

D: A nice witbier... but not quite as refined and delicate as one should be. The rawness ultimately takes away from the refreshing quality that I was looking for on a 90 degree summer day.