Clipper Gold Hefeweizen
Maritime Pacific Brewing Company

On tap at Bitterroot, Seattle.
Hazy bronze with white film. 3.75
Orange barley water. 4
Salted toffee hit, bit tart tangerine, and lemon zest with pithy end. 4
Light, oily, smooth. 4

Way hoppy for a weiss. Way bitter, too, at the end - very not to style. Quenching if you know what you’re getting. 3.75

 

A - Surely looks the part - nice cloudy but bright golden yellow. Served with minimal head. Just a bit of lacing.

S - Fairly mild aromas outside of the wheat. Just a bit of citrus and apples.

T - Decent, but more in the American wheat style I would say. Lacks the banana and cloves as others have mentioned. Mostly wheat bread and tangy citrus.

M - This is spot on. High carbonation, crisp on the tongue.

D - Despite its flaws, highly refreshing and drinkable. Overall, a decent effort that misses the mark perhaps mainly because of expectations implied by the name.

Served in straight pint glass. Poured a very cloudy, barely opaque, yellow that had a relatively small head for the style and left minimal lacing.

The aromas were typical Hefe, clove, yeast, banana, but somewhat subdued and muted. The flavors were somewhat stronger than the scents led me to expect, but not outstanding for the style.

The body was average for the style and the beer was very drinkable. Having a couple of these in a row would be easy. Overall, an average Hefe, worth trying if you see it.

This beer seems to lack something in the banana cloves part of the hefe equation. I was taken back by how the beer tasted almost non wheaty in finish. After tasting El jefe from Hales which is uber banana this was a letdown. The problem I had was that it didn't want to be an acceptable American Wheat like Hefe such as Widmer but rather it walked down flavour paths that I wasn't willing to follow.

From the moment I first read the Jolly Roger's beer list the hefeweizen somehow seemed out of place. I don't know why. The whole vibe of the JR just came across as more of an English-American pub that didn't require a German wheat beer. I had a hunch somehow that Maritime just wasn't the brewpub to go to for a top-notch hefe. Call it a woman's intuition. Except of course, I'm not a woman.

My Clipper Gold arrived with a single big bubble, the size of a cherry, that focused my attentions momentarily. The rimmed suds that formed behind it were bleached white. At first, I thought I caught a whiff of Bavarian styling from the aroma. Just a touch of clove and spice. But this never reemerged after its initial appearance and I soon assigned the beer to the American wheat category.

Clipper has a body of intense turbidity in a shade of hard ochre. It is spry and fresh tasting and agreeable with food though clearly not Maritime's best. Wheat malts dominate with a dry graininess, but the beer is not abundantly flavorful. At least the JR doesn't bother imposing a lemon on it.

On tap at the Elk Public House. Served in a pint glass.

Pours a shiny gold color and is hazy. A small head (for the style) tops the beer. The head is no doubt kept down by the bar tender, but it's not very sticky, and produces minimal lacing.

The smell is faint with soft fruit fragrances. Pears mostly.

The taste is average for the style. A faint banana presence with a light pie spice flavor and a mild bitter finish.

Mouth feel is clean light and a little dry.

Very drinkable better than most American Hefeweizens but still average.

Milky cloudiness with a lemonade color. Predictably long lasting head with nice lace.

Light wheat aroma, no flaws, nothing noteworthy.

Heavy yeast bite to the flavor. The wheat is muted. The body is middle-of-the-road while the carbonation is running on the high side.

This is decent offering in the hefeweizen world--nothing special.

I really enjoyed this beer, and I'm not particularly a fan of the style. I wish everybody were as fortunate as I to drink at a bar like the Celtic Bayou where Karen the bartender knows to ask if one wants a lemon in their unfiltered wheat beer. This beer - without the lemon - is a dirty looking golden straw color. The head is white and had little retention and light lacing. The smell was insubstantial; mostly grainy. The taste was bready with light citrus tastes and sour, tangy notes onset toward the end of each taste. The mouthfeel was crisp, and the beer is highly carbonated as is correct for the style. This is a very drinkable hefeweizen.

Had this on tap at Mchormichs and it was served with a lemon. A hazy orange color with a tan head that leaves creamy lacing on the glass as you drink. The smell is very fruity with tones of grain and a hop kick. The taste is very fruity tone with just enough beer hop kick. Feels full in the mouth, a very drinkable beer, one hef that I could go back for.