Second Wind Wheat
Mountain Town Brewing Co.

 

L: brilliant straw, 2” foam S: mostly wheat - a little banana, caramel. T: Wheat malt flavors without a lot of spice or fruit. Slightly tart on the finish. F: Light, medium high carbonation. O: Light and refreshing, a summer afternoon drink.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a pretty decent wheat beer. The bubblegum tones are a bit much, but things seem to come together well enough. I wouldn't go back to this one ever, but this style is hard to nail, so I feel at least a small amount of acknowledgement is due. I'll also say that this strikes me more as a hefe than a pale wheat ale.

 

A - Bottled poured to pint-glass. Pours a see-through golden hue. No cloudiness to speak of. A slim, frothy head formed and quickly dissipated. If i hadn't poured the bottle myself I might think I was served a traditional American lager or pilsener.

S - Slightly bitter wheat aroma with a suggestion of bananas and other spices.

T - Watery and somewhat coppery with the bananas becoming more pronounced. There's a mildly bitter aftertaste of wheat and spice.

M - Very light, watery feel with decent carbonation, bubbling slightly as you swill. Goes down very easy, unlike some heavier hefeweizen/wheat ales.

O - A perfectly average beer. Nothing remarkable but nothing terrible. It might actually turn out to be a decent summer beer for a hot day based on it's drinkability.

Appearance - Pours a cloudy, bright yellow-orange color with almost no head. Has very thin lacing.

Smell - It has somewhat of a banana smell to it.. with strong hints of coriander and clove. Lemon zest, citrus, wheat, and very sweet.

Taste - Citrus, strong clove flavor, small hints of coriander, wheat, floral hops, and a sweet banana aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Light body with high carbonation.

Overall - It's nice to try some of the local stuff. Mt. Pleasant isn't too far from me. This beer tastes pretty good, all depending on if you like spicy brews. I'd probably get heartburn after about 3 of these lol..

A - Transparent golden hue with virtually no head, even after a vigorous pour

S - Typical wheat beer smell, with a hint of clove

T - Very flat flavor profile, typical wheaty backbone, but the spices are lacking and there is a strange tangy aftertaste

M - Light bodied and under-carbonated

O - This is a somewhat watered down version of your typical wheat beer. Outside of the funky aftertaste (not funky in a Belgian way), there isn't anything horrible about it, but there aren't any redeeming qualities either.

Bottle poured into a mug.

A- A moderate pour left a 1-1/2 finger, pillowy, eggshell head that sustains around 1/4-finger and leaves some really good stick on the glass. The golden body clouds quite nicely with a yeast swirl and dump, showcasing heavy carbonation.

S- Very much as I'd expect from the style. A nice mix of citrus and spice. Very much on the sweet, wheaty side of the spectrum.

T- Solid and much like the aroma. Very flavorful and malt forward. There's a lot of lemony-citrus and an underlying peppery spice. The citrus does become a little overwhelming about halfway through the glass.

M- Creamy smooth as expected from the style. Moderate, chewy body that's heavily carbonated.

O- It starts out refreshing on a hot, summer day. Though it is all a little too flavorful in the end. It almost drinks like an "imperial" version of the style.

On tap at Mt Pleasant brewery.

Not a great representation of the Pale Wheat Ale, but one of the breweries better options. Looked and smelled like a typical wheat ale, but more diluted.

Taste was wheaty and yeasty, but something slightly odd about it. Adjuncts? Not sure...just tasted 'pale' and watered down.

Overall an ok beer, I wouldn't get again nor recommend...but if you are at this brewery/eatery, it might be on e of your better options.

A: HUGE head of large bubbled rocky foam. Really foams up with very active rising bubbles. Almost too foamy - its not a gusher, but me thinks some thing is not quite right here. Deep golden straw to orangey copper with a very slight haze. Quite nice lacing.

S: Lemony tart slightly metallic twang. Hmmm.... Soft crackery grain lies underneath with a whicc of lemon bar sweetness.

T: I do believe that this has soured a bit. Sour lemon twang with a pretty strongly acidic note. Very tart. There is a faint sweetness underlying this with some crackery malts and grainy wheat character. Hops come out in the finish as well. They are mostly grassy, but also be a bit citrusy. Hard to tell with sour lemon twang.

M: Under medium body with over average CO2 - almost thin and fizzy. Sour twang and tart / citric / acid bite contribute to sharp drying, almost biting, finish.

D: Beware bravely buying the last dusty sixer of a summer release late in the fall from a small and not so up-scale store in a backwater rural area. Even if you are trying to help the economy of the former home state while visiting on one of those yearly seasonal social obligations. Role the dice...snake eyes. Still, it's not a drain pour. A sort of natural shandy with a lemon AirHead dropped in it and allowed to dissolve to give it that extra, um, something.

A. Pours a golden color with a thin head that has very little retention with no lacing and moderate carbonation.
S. It has a strong wheat and corn smell along with some hops and yeast
T. The taste is wheat, yeast, followed by some hops and finishes with corn and alcohol.
M. It is a light feel that is very watery.
D. This beer is like water so that makes it very easy to drink, a beer for summertime.

Poured from a 12oz bottle into an imperial pint.

A: Pours a bright and hazy golden color with a creamy, bright-white, one finger head perched up top. Retention was adequate and some specky lace was left behind.

S: Initial aromas were of tangy fruit with a hint of corn. As it warmed up the corn subsided and was replaced by banana. Also noted were toasted wheat and some mild spiciness.

T: Exactly as above.

M: Dry, spicy, and bitter. Maybe a little too bitter. It's like this is a hybrid of an APWA mixed with a Hefe. I wish this had just a little more of the Hefe's sweet, juicy, stickiness.

D: The drinkability is actually quite good. This would be a nice hot West Michigan summer session beer.

Stirred up a little of the yeast while it's still in the bottle, twisted off the cap, and poured it into a weizen glass.

Appearance: Nice off-white head with a cloudy dark yellow body.

Smell: Aroma is of bananas and yeast. Something about the smell of it reminds me of an adjunct lager.

Taste: The yeast gives it a little bit of an herbal taste. In the previous bottle I had the yeast was not agitated and the taste was just of bananas. It tastes good with and without the yeast dumped in, but I think I preferred it more without.

Bought to support my local breweries. Poured into a pint glass.

A- A pale copper color with about two fingers of fizzy, white head. Very clear with decent head retention.

S- Wheat and grains, some floral hops, slightly fruity.

T- Starts out grainy and slightly sour. Banana flavor definitely shows up, has a bit of spice and sweetness to it.

M- Light-bodied, smooth, pretty well carbonated.

D- The taste wasn't good enough to make me want more, but it does seem to be a sessionable beer.

Overall, it's decent, I will probably try other beers from this company since they are local.