White Tide
Rock Wall Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Poured into a Stone gargoyle flute. Pours a lightly hazy, light to medium golden amber with a half finger fizzy head that dissipates to nothing with no lacing (yikes). Aroma of lightly grainy malt, coriander and light lemon. Flavor is lightly grainy malt, coriander and hints of orange and lemon. Medium bodied on the high end light to medium creaminess. Tastes as expected, a lower budget take on a witbier. The malt tastes good, but is a little dialed back on flavor depth, which leaves the coriander a bit stark on the palette. The mouth feel is better than expected. Drinkable, but not worth saving a few bucks for.

The beer pours to a decent head with a crisp, cloudy gold color. Smells of pine straw, wheat, with hints of orange. It tastes of a balance between malty and hoppy, with a slight hint of orange. It feels light and watery on the tongue with a slight tingle. This is a high-quality witbier in my opinion.

Pours a clear golden yellow color with almost no head at all!
Has vegetable aromas, possibly light citrus.
I'm not getting any orange peel notes, which is surprizing since it is mentioned on the bottle. More like a bland carbonated possibly apple like notes to it. Disappointed by the taste.
Feels medium to thick in the mouth.
Overall not that great of a beer.

 

Pale and fairly hazy, white head. Smells great. Taste doesn't live up to the nose's hype as it's a bit one-dimensional but still OK. Reasonably smooth.

12 fl oz screw-top bottle from Aldi:

Obvious orange peel. Coriander. Wheat.

Very much a dollar store Hoegaarden, but Hoegaarden isn't all that much more than this. I probably prefer Blue Moon, and that's saying something.

Low C- / BELOW AVERAGE

 

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled on 7/22/2024. Pours moderately hazy golden amber color with a 1 finger dense and fluffy white head. Good retention, and spotty soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas of pear, apple, banana, bubblegum, orange peel, apricot, clove, coriander, peppercorn, bread dough, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earthiness. A bit of honey, a bit sweet on aromas. Taste of big pear, apple, banana, bubblegum, orange peel, coriander, apricot, clove, peppercorn, wheat grain, bread dough, wood, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, woody bitterness on the finish. Medium high carb and light-medium body. Crisp clean refreshing finish. Balanced creamy grainy malt and sticky spicy mouthfeel. No hop/spice astringency on lingering drying character. Very vibrant and complex yeast/citrus/spice flavors. Top tier for the style. I could drink these all day.

I almost said I was back to Belgium for another, but quickly realized I wasn't. This one used to be brewed in Belgium, but is now exclusively brewed in New York, USA for Aldi. First time I've had it, so I must wonder how different it is from the Belgian original. I reviewed the German Pilsner Wernesgruner (brewed in Germany) from Aldi not long ago and that one was good enough to spark an interest into other Aldi offerings.

A semi-aggressive pour into a Belgian tulip glass, the color is deep gold to pale amber, a bit hazy with a small amount of yeast sediment floating around, no head to write home about, moderate carbonation. On the aroma, I pick up some breadiness, spiciness, smidgen of orange, very little malt sweetness. Nothing really jumping out at me there as the aroma is quite faint. On the taste, the backbone of this beer is spicy breadiness. There's coriander there that really stands out along with wheat bread crust that hits my palate right away up front and through the backend. On the finish there's a bit of orange peel bitterness that lingers for a time. The coriander and breadiness still there. Too much coriander spiciness for me. Not a big fan. The finish borders on semi-dry, again with a lingering light orange peel bitterness. Not much sweetness at any point of the experience. Mouthfeel is light bodied, crisp and refreshing. There's better witbier out there for sure, so I probably won't be buying this one again. However, for a 6-pack at roughly $1.35 per bottle, the value is worth the try. I'm sure there's some folks out there who might enjoy this one. Cheers!

 

poured from a 12oz bottle into a nonic pint glass. pours a semi-clear yellow / gold with almost no foam head. light wheat, citrus, black pepper and faint belgian yeast on the nose and taste. it’s quite watery and bland though, unfortunately. thinner mouthfeel. not something i would seek out again.

This is the Aldi version. It falls flat in all categories.

**BEWARE: NOW A DIFFERENT BEER FROM DIFFERENT BREWERY! ALDI SWITCHED BREWERS!**

I cannot speak for Aldi in Europe, but in the United States this beer is no longer made by Martens in Belgium, it's now made by FIFCO (Genesse) in America! Aldi pulled the switch-a-roo on us. The original was a classic Belgian Wit profile and ticked all the boxes. This new White Tide tastes exactly like every other American brewpub's interpretation of a Belgian Wit: Flat on sweetness and too heavy on IBU to be true to style.

Review below is of the 'new' Aldi beer, labeled as "Rock Wall Brewing Company, Rochester, NY" (a ghost company for FIFCO/Genesse).

Appearance: Deep, dark yellow body lacking milky body or hazy appearance Wits often do; this is obviously filtered. Foam head is medium-light and not as strong as other Wits. Head retention is slightly above average. No lacing.

Aroma: Bready maltiness with spicy aromatics. Citrusy notes are not forward and quite subdued.

Flavor: Watered down malt flavors, with orange-citrusy profiles lacking pronunciation one would expect. Lemony coriander on finish. Hop bitterness is medium to medium-high.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light bodied, highly effervescent with strong carbonation.

Overall: Nothing particularly special, and nothing true to style. What's sad is not that Aldi is now sourcing from FIFCO/Genesse, it's that Aldi is trying to pass it off as the same beer as before. It is also disappointing that FIFCO/Genesse chose not to replicate the original White Tide everyone loved, but rather make a completely new beer.

This beer suffers from inconsistency. The first time I tried it, a couple of years ago, I was blown away. It easily met my conditions of being a daily drinker, coming in about a dollar a six under a similar American Belgian white-style beer. But as time has gone by, I have detected much more flavor forward of wheat and back-of-the-tongue green hops. In short, my serving tonight was overhopped (though not as bad as an IPA) and it was wheaty through and through. Yes, I still taste coriander and a hint of orange bitters, but this was not altogether satisfactory, in contrast to my first six packs of this beer. Will I continue to drink it when I am in Aldi and it's in stock? Sure. But -- my opinion -- the consistency is not there and it has become much more of a "me too" overhopped American beer passing as a microbrew (and they are out there aplenty; I am talking to you Sierra Nevada, Sweetwater and Lagunitas -- among others).

 

12 oz. bottle, no date. A bit confused as my bottle says this beer is brewed by Rock Wall Brewing Company, out of Rochester, NY, label art is slightly different, but mostly the same, and abv is listed at 5.40% on the bottle. "Belgian Style Wheat Ale Brewed With Orange Peel And Coriander"..

Poured to Schlitz clear glass beer mug.
Pours a fizzy deep golden color, head audibly sizzling away to nothing.. Looks almost like a darker American lager, and the lack of head is disturbing.
Aroma is grainy and weak .. lots of earthy grains / wheat but that is about it. Notes of soft citrus & some cracked pepper do creep forth, but they are faaaaaint.
Taste is a little better than the look & smell have led me to believe so far... super grainy, wheaty, malty, dry breadiness, with some faint notes of citrus / orange peel, cracked pepper, & Belgiany sort of yeasty doughy flavor.. Tastes more akin to a regular beer than anything, in my opinion. Very Americanized.
Feel is smooth, crisp, & fluid, slightly filling / bloating, but with lowly carb. Heavy sitting.
Overall, I drank two of these last night straight from the bottle, and enjoyed them much more than I am enjoying this one poured.. My final consensus is that these are best enjoyed ice cold from the bottle, while engaged in fun activities or partying...

White Tide -----3/5.