Wheaty Bee
Bee's Knees Brewpub

1/3 litre on-draught @ the brewpub for 110 baht.

4.2-4.5% ABV. Brewed (interestingly) with challenger and galaxy hops.

HEAD: White and soft, receding quickly (I.e. in less than 20 seconds) from 2cm to 0. Leaves even coating lacing as it recedes.

BODY: Bright hazy yellow. Not your usual hefeweizen orange. Looks like a witbier, actually. Translucent; nontransparent.

AROMA: Lemon dish detergent, soap, pleasant wheat, fruity hop notes. A bit off-putting, but no more so than your amateur buddy's initial homebrews.

Aromatic intensity is average. I find no clove, orange peel, or banana.

TASTE: Lemon detergent is dominant, with subsidiary notes of pleasant albeit out-of-place fruit from the hops. Malt backbone is shallow, comprised entirely of subdued wheat and uninteresting pale malt. A higher percentage of wheat would be a good start.

TEXTURE: Thin and weak, if not borderline watery. Light-bodied, strangely soft, overcarbonated, smooth, wet.

OVERALL: I like the zesty flavour they're going for, but this brew is ultimately a swing and a miss, bending heavily into an artificial detergent/soap character indicative of some fault during the brewing process... possibly too long a fermentation period, possibly water chemistry. It's inoffensive, though, and at least the brewery is targeting a beer with actual flavour - a rarity in this country.

D (2.11) / AVOID

A great wheat beer. Slightly light in color with a small head. Sweet smell and rich flavor - very refreshing, especially in the heat and humidity of Koh Samui!