True North
Ore Dock Brewing Company

 

 

 

From tasting notes 10/26/17
Had on-tap @ Iron Bay Taproom in Marquette, MI

Appearance - Served up in a 10oz nonic, hazy and straw yellow with a broken layer of suds and a thin ring around edge of glass. Lacing is spotty, most of which slide back into the drink.

Smell - Aroma is strong on banana, hint of clove spice and lesser bubblegum. Wheat undertone.

Taste - Follows the nose. Strong banana flavor while the clove spice adds a nice secondary layer. Bubblegum is very faint in this one. Faint wheat found in the finish.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with fair, bubbly carbonation. Slick, smooth drinker with a hint of chalkiness in the finish.

A solid US-made hefe, but falls short of the German-made competition.

12 ounce bottle into weizen glass, no bottle dating. Pours very hazy pale golden yellow color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky white head with awesome retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big lemon, orange, banana, bubblegum, clove, pear, apple, wheat, white bread dough, biscuit, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, bready malt, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, orange, banana, bubblegum, clove, pear, apple, wheat, white bread dough, biscuit, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal/grassy bitterness, yeast spiciness, and wheat tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, orange, banana, bubblegum, clove, pear, apple, wheat, white bread dough, biscuit, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, bready malt, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness bitter/spiciness and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready/silky/pillowy, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is amazing. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.3%. Overall this is a fantastic hefewezen! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, bready malt, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and refreshing to drink with the mildly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Very flavorful for the ABV. Perfectly balanced yeast/malt flavors; with an insanely smooth, rich, and creamy mouthfeel. A highly enjoyable offering, and one of the best American made style examples I have had.

I picked up a bottle of Ore Dock's True North for $1.89 at The Lager Mill. It's been awhile since I've tried a new Hefeweizen and I'm interested to see what Ore Dock can do with this one, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a Weizen glass.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a nice design and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a very hazy slightly pale yellow color that takes on more of an orange color when held to the light with four fingers worth of very fluffy white head that died down to a thick layer that stayed till the end and it left some nice patchy lacing behind. This is a very nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the yeast being the first to show up and it imparts some a fairly typical hefeweizen yeast aroma, but it's just a little more fruity then usual with the lemons sticking out the most and there's a slight soapy aspect in the background. Up next comes the malts which impart a pale malt, bready and grainy aroma and towards the end comes a little more of those citrus fruits. This beer has a nice aroma, it seems to be brighter than most, but I could do without the slight soapy aspects.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but it's just a little lighter and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the yeast still being the first the to show up and it imparts the same aspects, but this time there's also a stone fruit like aspects and it's followed by the same herbal aspects that I got in the aroma, but they are a good amount lighter. Up next comes the malts which show up more than they did in the aroma and they impart all the same aspects along with some doughy malt aromas. On the finish there's pretty much not bitterness with a little sweetness taking it's place and it has a nice yeasty and malty aftertaste. This is a nice tasting beer, but the taste was just a little lighter than I would normally expect from the style.

M- Smooth, slightly refreshing, very crisp, prickly, on the very light side of being medium bodied with a higher amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it was a little less prickly.

Overall I thought this was a nice Hefeweizen and I think it's a pretty solid example of the style, for the most part it was pretty true to the style, but when it came down to it I find it to be just a little rough around the edges. This beer has ok drinkability, I think one is enough for me, anymore than that and I would start to get bored of it. What i like the most about this beer is the appearance, it's a very nice looking beer. What I like the least about this beer is the taste and the drinkability, they both could use some work. I don't think I would buy this beer again since i prefer the german made versions of this style, but I wouldn't turn one down and I would recommend it to someone looking for a lighter hefe. All in all I liked this beer, but I didn't love it and I think with a little more work on the balance this could be a pretty good beer. It's not a favorite Ore Dock beer and it's just a little above average for the style. Nice jop guys, this is a solid Hefeweizen, but it has the potential to be better.