Locks of Gold
Bear Island Brewing Company

Described as half hefeweizen, half cream ale, but comes off like a wheat ale. Fairly light bodied, effervescent,, mildly sweet, but not too fruity. Body bears out the cream ale claim.

a curious hybrid between a cream ale and a hefeweizen, i like it better knowing that now, the yeast and the fermentation profile were weird when i was drinking it, thinking it was supposed to be a basic cream ale, its estery and odd, definitely too flavorful for the style on its own, but i get it now. still, its one of the least impressive beers i have had from bear island so far, not nearly as well refined as most of them have been, although i appreciate another attempt to do something unique! not much head from the tap but decent clarity and shine. aroma of pear and green banana and some corny sort of grain sweetness, not real balanced, not real refined, but pretty unique, and the flavor follows, fruity from the yeast, which turned me off to it being a cream ale, but now makes sense, especially with some of the wheat thats present here to me. more bubbles would make this better, and i think it could be drier too, but its an interesting hybrid and one we dont often see, i hoped it might be crisper, not as drinkable as maybe it could be. overall this one is just okay, less compelling than it sounds on paper, and one of the few weaker offerings so far from bear island in my experience...

edit: they have embraced this as a full on hefe now, maybe tweaked the recipe some, maybe just got better at brewing over the last year, but this is listed as a hefeweizen now, 5.1% abv this time around, and way better than it used to be, the yeast esters are bold but traditional and right for the style, its got some body and great carbonation, a more refined product this year. improved for sure, but still not among their best in here.