Summer Catch
Cape May Brewing Company

 

 

A thanks to the captain of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 12 oz. can. Deapite a gentle pour, this beer filled the glass quickly, resulting in a bright yellow.whitish color with several inches of head. Smell is of citrus, light spices. Taste is citrus, hints of wheat, hoppy for the style. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a decent beer.

 

 

12 oz can. Pours hazy golden with tall, long lasting, fluffy white head and nice lacing. Aroma is of yeast, wheat malt, spices and citrus fruit. Body is medium and smooth. Wheat malt, yeast, citrus fruit, herbal hops and spices fill the mouth. Finish is long and spicy. OK brew.

 

Welcome back to Happy New "CAN We Visit the Cape & Drink Some Beer, Aunt May?!?" Sunday (Week 751)! The CANQuest (tm) will be in high gear today as a result. Hang tight!

From the CAN: "Belgian-Style Wheat Pale Ale"; "A Wave of Citrusy Freshness': "Soak Up Some Sun"; "And Catch Some Waves"; "New Jersey Proud"; "Best Paired With [chicken legs; sunshine; lobster]"; "Care for the Cape"; "Profile: Citrusy and refreshing, notes of orange peel and tropical fruits dominate this Belgian-style Wheat Ale. Lightly dry-hopped with Citra and Amarillo hops to give it a noticeably American twist, this crushable wheat ale is complex, yet approachable, just like the Jersey Shore."; "Crafted on the Cape"; "Unfiltered".

I did some in-CAN agitation before Crack!ing open the vent since it was clearly marked as "Unfiltered" & I wanted anything that may have flocculated back in suspension. Following the Crack!, I went with an inverted C-Line Glug to CANtinue to ensure that things were in suspension. The resulting two fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, bone-white head were nice while they lasted, which was not long. Hmm. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5). Nose smelled quite nice with its dominant orange peel and a peppery spiciness. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but big for a Witbier. The taste had a tangy citrusiness, orange & grapefruit, with a pronounced earthy pepperiness and a wheat-y tang. Yum! Tropical? If they say so, but I was unCANvinced. No matter. This was the kind of dry, spicy, refreshing beer that I long for. The bitterness was low, but the spiciness made up for it. I was surprised that it was not mentioned in the "Profile". Hmm. Finish was dry to the point that I was sweating & thinking about reaching for my asthma inhaler. Phew! I just gotta have some hops, is all. YMMV.

 

 

 

 

Not too much if an overpowering aroma of citrus,grain,and some mild spice. Taste was fairly similar, not overpowering but still pretty good. Has more hop bitterness than I was used to for this style but it worked fairly well

At the brewer's tent on draft in flight.
a) Pours a hazy, yellow body sporting thick, dense head with tiny bubbles. Lasts and laces.
s) Classic Belgian Wit, with lime, citrus, pepper, ginger, grass along with sugar cookies still yeasty from oven.
t) Adds to the aromas a pleasing coriander and herbs in the finish... Clean finale with pepper.
f) Light to mid, creamy texture, smooth.
o) Leaning toward wit ipa, I like it.

Cape May Brewing Co. "Summer Catch"
12 fl. oz. can with illegible ink-jet coding on the bottom
$1.83 @ Cherry Hill Wine, Liquor & Beer (Wegmans), Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Although the date coding is unclear it's obvious that this is a fresh can as it's a summer beer and it's only July 8th. It's poured a hazy yellow-gold body beneath a finger-thick head of fluffy bright white foam. The aroma is more citrusy than anything with notes of orange and lemon although there is some phenolic character to it as well. The flavor follows with less citrus, a touch of spiciness that's probably just from the yeast but might not be, some light wheat malt, and a touch of some additional fruitiness similar to apple. It's moderately bitter but dry in the finish with some residual spiciness. In the mouth it's light-medium in body and effervescently crisp. It's OK. It's got everything that it needs yet it somehow just doesn't seem all that exciting, it just doesn't gel. It's nicely balanced and the spice and citrus are nice but it's not a head turner. I'd rather have one of these than a light beer though.
Review# 6,126

 

Huge head, tops out over three fingers, bright white and highly whipped up into a fragile froth, gets pocked full of holes as it dissolves, minimal lacing. Gauzy washed out yellow hued liquid, looks sun bleached, there’s only a few visible bubbles but they are fat and move with decent speed. Very mild hint of banana and bubblegum to the nose, peppery and lemony with a solid wheat cornerstone, runs the risk of getting archly herbaceous but softens in the end, not much by way of fruit scents. Medium-bodied and noticeably dry, as a result the surprisingly tight and aggressive carbonation pinches the palate. The clove and peppercorns take over swiftly, pushing the bubblegum notes aside. In turn the wheat is more pronounced bringing with it notes of rough country bread. Dry white grapefruit pith and here there’s a murmur of pear, apple, peach fruit, however, there’s nothing sweet about it. The grassiness can’t be contained through the finish, ratcheting up the bitterness. Needs to be served ice cold for maximal drinkability.

The slightly hazy light golden yellow colored beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 1/2” white head that recedes visibly leaving some irregularly shaped patches and legs of lacing on the sides of the glass as it becomes a ring around the glass and an irregularly shaped island of foam on the surface. Sipping creates lots of small patches of foam and leggy lacing.

The aromas include some definite citrus that seems to be orange zest with a bit of grapefruit mingled in. There’s a good solid base of bready character from the wheat and some spicy white pepper in the background.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with some orange zest, a bit of grapefruit, some white pepper spiciness all supported by a background of bready wheat. There’s also some sweetness that is well balanced with bitterness here and they both compliment each other nicely.

The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium bodied and gently prickly with the persistent finely bubbled carbonation. The finish begins as the sweetness and citrus begin to fade, leaving a bit of peppery, spicy herbal bitterness in the long dry ending. Eventually all that’s left is just a faint bit of bitterness, in the middle and back of the palate, and that takes a long time to disappear.

On the whole I’m enjoying this beer and would be happy to have another. While it won’t come close to displacing the Allagash White as my favorite US made Witbier, it is both tasty and refreshing so it would make a fine summer beer.