Belgian White Ale
Raccoon River Brewing Company

This is the first time I've reviewed a brew from RRBC and I must say their lineup is rather impressive.

The Belgian White had a very fruity aroma and taste. It even came with an orange slice. It was orance in appearance. Compared to other Belgium whites this was much more enjoyable because the flavor was less harsh than others and more, fun, becasue of the fruity lavor.

Normally I abide by the man law "Don't fruit the beer", but this makes a great exception to the rule.

I love the appearance of this murky, orange-and-yellow white ale. The top portion is more pale and almost iridescent while the lower half has more of a brown-orange look. The head is a bummer, as it's virtually non-existent, but the colors are so pleasant that I'll give it a half-point pass.

Impressively strong aroma that's super-heavy on the spicing: the coriander is so strong that it almost smells like ginger. Some orange fruit zest and sweet pale malts round it out.

More orange and coriander in the flavor, again, almost as much spice-prickle as found in a ginger ale (the alcoholic kind..)

I'm not sure why there's so little carbonation for this style of beer. Ordinarily my complaint with whites is that while refreshing and pleasant, they are too lightly bodied to keep me interested. Not so here, as there's almost no head as mentioned, nothing going on during the drink, and the mouthfeel ends up feeling heavier than the style warrants.

I still really like this white ale, and given my other RRBC experiences, this seems to be one of their best. Bursting with flavor, a not at all embarrassing take on a style that's embarrassed many an American brewer. Now throw a little extra yeast in the aging vessel.

Massively murky nectarine with no head by the time the glass reached me... which was about five seconds after the pour. The glass did, however, come with a slice of orange on the rim. Since fruit isn't that rapidly lethal to head and lace, I suspected carbonation issues (which turned out to be the case).

The nose was the most impressive thing about Belgian White Ale. It was full-to-bursting with both orange peel and coriander. Especially coriander. Anyone who wants to know what that particular spice smells like will be absolutely sure an instant after sniffing this beer.

If it hadn't been for the less than wonderful mouthfeel, the flavor score would have followed suit without a doubt. It felt like Belgian White was cask-conditioned. It wasn't. To state the obvious, insufficienty carbonated beer not only feels flat, it tastes flat as well. Good thing there was a whole lotta flavor in the house.

As in the nose, there was plenty of sweet orange and even more coriander. In fact, it tasted like there was fruit pulp in the glass (actually there was a little). There was also a green apple tartness that is apparently due to the yeast strain. More palate POP! would have been great.

There isn't much to add on the mouthfeel front. The beer seemed too thin initially, but once I factored out the carbonation issue, it actually came across as light-medium. Definitely an appropriate starting point.

Belgian White Ale is one of the most boldly flavored witbiers in recent memory. It has the potential to be one of Raccoon River's best seasonals, but was let down, at least on this day, by the fifth major ingredient: bubbles.