Hiawatha Wheat
Blackrocks Brewery

 

 

 

Pours a golden yellow with a thicker foam head that thins out to about medium. Smells heavy citrus with caramel. The taste is citrus with both caramel and floral notes. Light on hops. Has a light feel to it. Good summer beer, as donned the name Hiawatha, after the Hiawatha Music Fest in Marquette, Michigan that takes place during the 3rd weekend in July.

12 ounce can into pint glass, canned on 7/5/2017. Pours hazy deep golden amber/light orange color with a 2 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts the whole glass. Dense foamy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, pepper, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and moderate bready/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is an excellent hoppy American pale wheat ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and refreshing to drink with the modestly bitter/drying finish. Great juicy, vibrant, and lightly dank hop character; balanced malts with no residual sweetness. A very enjoyable offering.

I picked up a can of Blackrocks Hiawatha Wheat at Boyne Country Provisions. I've never heard of this beer, but It peaked my interest and I thought it was worth a try, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a 12oz can into a teku.

A- The can looks good, it goes great with the name and it's eye catching. It poured a hazy orange color that took on more of a golden orange color when held to the light with three fingers worth of fluffy and chunky white head that left a little bit of patchy lacing behind and it died down to a thick ring that stayed till the end. This is a very nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart a big fruity aroma with some nectarine and apricot like aromas coming through with some citrus rinds showing up in the background, along with some green hops, floral hops and grassy hop aromas coming through. Up next comes some doughy yeast that leads into the malts which impart some pale malt, grainy, bready and sweet malts aromas. This beer has a good aroma, the hop profile is pretty nice.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up and they impart more of a fruity hop flavor with all the other aspects showing up a little in the background and they impart all those nice fruity aspects that they did in the aroma. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast that goes into the malts which show up a little more than they did in the aroma and it imparts all the same aspects. This is a pretty nice tasting beer, it's got a good hop profile and nice balance.

M= The mouthfeel is smooth, a little crisp, a little clean, on the lighter side of being medium bodied with a lighter amount of medium carbonation. the mouthfeel is pretty nice and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and a nice example of the style, it had some nice balanced with a good hop profile to go with and that made it a little memorable. This beer had ok drinkability, i think two would be my limit. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma and appearance, they are both pretty good. What I like the least about this beer is the nothing, nothing sticks out as not being that great. I would buy this beer again when looking for a unique wheat beer and I would recommend it to anyone looking for the same. All in all I was happy with this beer, it turned out to be good for what it is and I thought it was a little refreshing. It's not my favorite Blackrocks beer and its an above average example of the style. Good job guys, this is a tasty beer, keep it up.