White Shadow
Wild Rose Brewery & Taproom

 

L - Has that classic golden yellow wheat beer appearance, more orange than your average--think harvest moon, nice creamy white foam, and very cloudy.
S - Yeast, Pine, Honey.
T - Heavy Citrus: grapefruit, pear, lemon; some pine in the middle that breaks down into coriander and cardamon towards the finish. Some lingering fennel as well.
F - Very effervescent, yet creamy as well, just right balance of bitter thickness to leave an impression.
O - Damn I wish I could get this outside of Alberta, its a summer beer that packs the punch of a true IPA, this isn't your classic Hefeweizen, but truly a white IPA as billed.

 

 

 

341 ml bottle poured into a tulip glass. Perhaps a shade darker than one's typical witbier or Belgian IPA, a semi-cloudy yellowish orange with a large fluffy white head of around four fingers height. Aroma is assertive lemon and orange citrus with a dash of fresh pear, coriander seed, clove, and a hint of something more vegetal, carrot and strong green tea? Nice blend of Belgian yeast and fruity hops. The citrus and clove are also prominent on the palate, the hops skewing towards the aggressive (green and zesty) while the spice provides a slow burn. Quite heavy carbonation, a tad prickly even, with a decent full mouth feel. Finishes semi-dry, spicy, resinous, with lingering citrus rind and clove notes. Belgian IPAs are so variable, with some skewing towards the bitter medicinal tripel while others more closely emulate a rather tropical American IPA. This one is actually a solid balance, hops and clove in lockstep such that the combination works better than expected. Like a Christmas orange I suppose. Rough around the edges at times but charming enough to keep sipping.

 

 

 

 

A - clear straw golden, big tower of white head retained very well
S - citrus and musty yeast funk mix with light grains
T - minerally and musty with a bit of a soapy taste that lingers, some metallic and crisp leafy hop notes
M - relatively light body, fairly crisp with a nice slighlty bitter and very dry finish
O - a decent enough brew where both style aspects hold their own throughout, always nice to see this local brewer keeping the seasonal bombers coming

Bottled on 8/19/13. Poured in to tulip.

A - Translucent yellow/orange colour with one finger of white head.

S - Belgian yeast, coriander, citrus, orange zest, peppery spice.

T - Good bitterness up front. Belgian yeast, clove, orange zest, spice and coriander round out the flavour profile.

M - Medium body. Dry and slightly sticky. Moderate carbonation.

 

650ml bottle, bottled 08/19/13.

A - Pours a hazy golden yellow. Three fingers of fluffy white head that dissipates slowly and leaves plently of lacing in the glass. A decent amount of carbonation.

S - A little weak, mostly dominated by the coriander, cloves and orange, with hints of other spices and weak piney hop aroma.

T - Dominated by the same spices/orange as the smell, with a stronger hop flavour this time. Decently strong Belgian wheat malt flavour, with some slight caramel malt coming through. Spices and hops linger on the finish.

M - Fairly light mouthfeel that matches well with the Belgian wheat flavours. Very easy to drink.

O - One of the better takes on the Belgian/IPA cross. Although like with most Belgian IPAs the Belgian wheat ale characteristics and the IPA characteristics don't lend themselves to the best pairing, both show through quite well on their own in this offering. Definitely worth a try for a fan of either style.

Appearance - Pours a darker shade of amber with golden hues. Two fingers of foamy white head.

Smell - Piney hops (Cascade), yeast and clove, floral notes, tropical fruits, bit of orange peel.

Taste - Lots of flavour from the clove, yeast, and hops. Bit of floral and citrus flavours in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall - An enjoyable white IPA that has a nice balance of the Belgian inspired yeast and West Coast hops.

Thank you wordemupg!!

Appearance. Pours a hazy yellow gold with over two fingers of sticky looking white head with decent retention.

Smell. Sweet floral botanics (shit, I think I just stole that word from a shampoo bottle ...and I absolutely fucking hate shampoo bottle pseudo scientific descriptions, but I digress), some light citrusy hops, and a little caramel malt and belgian yeast phenols. Interesting and very pleasant.

Taste. Again the floral BOTANICS *sigh*, bitter floral and grassy hops, sweet citrus (though the beer itself is not sweet) complete with oily bitter rinds, and again some light belgian yeast phenols along with a touch of coconut.

Mouthfeel. Medium body, medium+ carbonation.

Overall. Probably the best tasting "white" ipa so far. Enjoying this one, thanks again wordemupg!

 

 

650ml bottle. Cool, film noir sort of label approach with this one.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, medium golden yellow hue, with two fingers of weakly foamy, somewhat bubbly, wan dirty white head, which leaves a bit of meandering, wispy smoke lace around the glass as things sink away.

It smells of lemon and orange citrus, a bit of astringent pine needles, grainy, crackery pale malt (with ever the slightest hint of caramel), a touch of spicy coriander/black pepper, and sassy leafy, earthy hops. The taste is still pretty acerbic, the citrus up front and in your face - lemon and orange peel upholding their mainstage status - with some edgy coriander and a weird yeast-borne clove spiciness kind of clashing like orange on red, a fading piney hoppiness, and crackery, dry bready pale malt.

The carbonation is a bit peppy, with misfired aspirations of frothiness, the body a decent medium-light weight, and actually quite smooth, even in the face of all that citrus and yeast mucking about. It finishes off-dry, barely, the malt really not up for this sort of persistence, while the heady hops, yeast, and spice seem to still know their way around.

A decent rendition of the unholy joining of two styles that really have little to complement each other. That said, the two sides work well enough as colleagues, letting their own freak flags fly, and do a minimum to interfere as such. Drinkable, what with the adequate west coast hops more than holding their own against the spice and yeast of the Belgian quotient.

650ml bomber poured into tulip 2/9/13

A hazy bright yellow liquid with thick stream of tiny bubbles coming off the bottom of my glass stopping just short of a tornado, not surprising that there's a large three finger foam that leaves lots of unorganized lace

S floral, spicy and citric, lots of orange peel and coriander with some Belgian flair, canned pineapple, and just a little caramel, smells quite strong

T mimics the nose well but doesn't quite match the intensity, loads of rind and spice and there's plenty of hops but far from overkill

M light bodied and I'm wondering where all the bubbles I could see are hiding, its far from flat but I was expecting a very lively feel after looking at it, quite slick after the fact with orange rind lingering

O a great sunny day beer but If I drank a few of these in the heat as quickly as this one sank I'd have problems, nice mix of spice, yeast, and hops

I'd say its a hopped up Wit and a good one at that, not quite the hops I was hoping for but I enjoyed it from start to finish and "from start to finish" didn't take all that long