Navigator Dark Weizen Bock
Maritime Pacific Brewing Company

12oz glass consumed at the Post Street Ale House in downtown Spokane. First time I've seen this.

This had a murky, muddy, amber-brown look to it. The bartender didn't allow it to have much head, but what was present was a tannish beige. Spotty lace.

Earthy wheat notes and toasty caramel malts are what greeted the schnoz. There was also a minor bit of spicy clove scent.

The flavor is a little more complex, but not by much. The main difference from the aroma is that the clovey banana notes hinted in that are present in a higher volume, but not to a great degree.

Medium bodied, with a slightly watery mouthfeel for a bock, weizen or otherwise.

Decent. I'm always happy to see an American take on a German style, but I'd skip this for an Aventinus or a Vitus.

 

 

 

 

A: Poured a dark brown with good carbonation and a nice creamy head.

S: Caramel, wheat, banana and some cocoa perhaps

T: Has a nice caramel ,toasted malt, cocoa and banana presence

M: Good body and feel

D: This beer is easy to drink and a good rep of the style

On tap:

I was pleasantly surprised with this beer last evening. Having been to the brewpub before, I found this local on tap at a different establishment.

Roasty, malty character - more complex than I had envisioned (in a good way). Mouthfeel was about right. This beer is very drinkable.

Whenever this beer is available, it is truly a treat.

Pours with a nice thick, creamy head. Laces nicely.

Extremely well-balanced nose and taste, with a malty, roast/toasty flavor, and just plain delicious character.

The mouthfeel is perfect, with a body that you notice, but not one that fills you instantly.

The drinkability of this beer is phenomenal. One needs to use some restraint when drinking a beer that tastes this good and still has that high of an alcohol content--it could be easy to knock back 8 pints without thinking, and then piss your pants and forget who you are for 30 minutes (credit Cousin Eddie for that one).

The bartender told me this was a dark wheat beer, which led me to expect a dunkelweizen. But Maritime's website lists this as a weizen bock, a beer of relative rarity among Pacific Northwest brewers. Alpine makes a very fine version and then there's the classic Aventinus. Style guidelines define a weizen bock as not dissimilar from a dunkel weizen, only top-fermented and generally stronger.

But upon tasting Maritime's dark wheat beer, the first thing that springs to mind is "porter" - perhaps "imperial porter." Perhaps even, "imperial wheat porter." The abundant roast barley flavor says it all and the spiced exotica of a more Germanic wheat beer doesn't really emerge.

But whether or not style expectations are achieved is largely irrelevant when you drink the stuff. This is an opaque brown beer with a modest rim of tan suds. It is as visually sedate as a big ale (or lager) might be, and it is yet another Maritime beer in which the word "hearty" begs to be applied. Bold and elegant for what it is. But what is it?