Halcyon Vibes Pale Wheat Ale
Ethereal Brewing

 

This tells you how far we've come in beer making: I can no longer tell the difference between a Hazy Session IPA and an American Pale Wheat Ale. Ethereal brewers exploit this development with their own hop-forward, wheat fueled American-styled ale.

Halcyon Vibes comes with a turbid sepia stained hue, nearly matte finish in its haze. As a creamy white crown develops, its mild but tantalizing scent of citronella, herb and tea precedes a creamy sweetness of cereal, pastry dough and a gentle drift of honeysuckle.

As the flavors unfold, the floral upstart turns fruity with a slightly musty tone of papaya, pawpaw, orange, apple, melon and lemon. As flavors of matcha tea arise, so does a dried orange character to bring a light curacao character before trending spicy, bitter and herbal with cedar, tea, verbena, sassafras and fresh spruce.

Medium bodied and trending light, even at the sake of trending watery, the beer's lightness leads to a crisp and fast finish with a slight astringent spice that persists in a slightly peppery, grain-derived tannic character.