Honeymoon Hefeweizen
Steam Plant Brewing Company / Stacks Restaurant

this is a hefeweizen, not a dark wheat as listed here, albeing an unconventional one as they go. the bartender said is has honey in it, but im not positive thats right after drinking one. if there is, its largely or almost entirely fermented out of this, and there isnt much character from it, if at all, i can easily explain the flavors here from the grain and the yeast, if anyone knows for sure, please inform me. its got some haze and not a lot of head, but still appears pretty light in the glass. the nose and taste have a rawness to the wheat base, a soft malty sweetness in the middle, and a bit of an ester from the yeast, but its beyond the normal banana and clove complexion, and it ends up with notes of pear and apple too, kind of summer and fall at the same time, a little white wine essence as well, but still kind of german to me, maybe just fermented warmer or something. its not bad, but i want it to be a little more lively, it stagnates just a little in the feel. the simple nature of it though is nice with my spicy food, and i like it being something other than a generic hefeweizen. decent but not amazing. i liked their jalapeno ale better than this one, believe it or not!

The menu states that Honeymoon is “our interpretation of a traditional German hefeweizen.” I’d say that something is lost in the translation. First off, the mandatory lemon wedge steals much from the beer before the citrus can contribute any enhancement. So lose the wedge. In its absence a bit of clove fragrance pokes through. Not much, but at first I couldn’t tag Honeymoon as any sort of hefe or hefe descendant.

Mine was the first pint drawn from a new keg. It was clouded orange-gray with thready lace and brandished an enjoyably quirky bittering along with something else that I just could not define. The flat dryness and crisp edge were succinct. Not a standard hefe or wheat beer at all. But I asked myself if I might care for another and the answer is yes, I would.