Spotlight
Braxton Brewing Company - Braxton Covington

 

 

 

 

Look - almost gave this 3.75... light yellow golden clear color with a slight lasting white head
Smell - coriander wheaty pine
Taste - coriander piney slight citrus
Feel - medium body and a good creaminess along with a medium light carb
Overall - I’d cut back on the coriander or get rid of it completely. Seems like it’s going down the saison route instead of white ipa

 

 

 

 

 

 

With every brewer's spotlight on hops, its the base flavors that often get forgotten. The barley, the wheat, the yeast- in comparison to hop flavor, aroma and bitterness the character of these ingredient seem not to matter. But the brewers at Braxton overlays those hops on a wheat beer base for extra body and flavor in support of those prized hop cones.

Spotlight comes with a hazy golden straw glow. Its pillowy white cap expels the citrus, herbal and tropical scent from hops along with the fruit and spice medley that's common to German wheat ale. Soft, supple and bready sweet, the malty foundation is of fresh baking bread, raw grain and sourdough.

As the ale opens up, it plays host to a billowing and bright hop array. White grapefruit, lime, passionfruit and kiwi all seem well represented along with the ever so soft tandem of banana and clove. While hints of vanilla and bubblegum ebb and flow through the hops, there's a soul of hefeweizen living in here.

Bright and breaming with hop bitterness, the medium bodied ale has a soft grain support for the bitterness even as the ale trends dry, crisp and refreshing. Stemmy, grassy and herbal, the character of the bitterness shows a light hop derived, grain derived astringency that's highlighted by the spicy bite in finish. An afterglow of sourdough and husken grains usher in a long and gripping bitter linger.

Although it's technically a 'white' IPA, this is a juicy, hoppy witbier at heart. Lots of coriander and orange that meld nicely with the fruit-forward hops. Full mouthfeel with balanced spice and citrus. A bit of Belgian funk as well. Very refreshing. Compared to some of the other Braxton beers that I've had that were just mediocre, this one really stands out.

Coriander, orange, grapefruit, and floral notes dominate the aroma. Coriander is pretty overpowering.

Flavor is fairly sweet upfront, pepto, with orange juice and zest notes fading to a dry biscuity malt and coriander finish.