Super Tramp
Dust Bowl Brewing Company - Brewery Taproom

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: Wheatwine
Glass: Pure Project 14-oz. snifter elemental (air) glass
Price: $4.49
From: Windmill Farms in Del Cerro (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: May 13, 2022
Consumed: June 3, 2022
Misc.: Canned on Jan. 21, 2022

Not sure the last time I’ve had a wheatwine and this would be just my second Dust Bowl beer (gave Pancho Imperial Stout an underrated 3.50 on April 6, 2019). This was labeled on Untappd as a “Strawberry infused Wheat Wine has fruity aroma and strawberry flavor. Dangerously delicious.” Very interesting but was looking forward to it going in.

Poured a medium amber clear color with two fingers of frothy off-white head. Could see some bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass at different speeds. Excellent uneven spiderweb foamy-to-foggy lacing. Excellent foamy retention. (Sight - 4.50)

Smelled strawberry, raspberry, floral, strawberry blossom, strawberry hard candy, soap and lingering caramel. Not nearly as good from the can. (Smell - 4.25)

More balanced in the nose and not sure that was a good thing here. Strawberry up front and bitter malt in the back. Got artificial strawberry, floral, strawberry blossom, strawberry hard candy, strawberry jam, caramel, toffee, bitter soap, grain, wood and leather. Fairly smooth for 8.4 pct. ABV. (Taste - 3.75)

Medium body. Oily texture. Average carbonation. Long, slightly bitter finish. (Feel - 4.00)

This was better than I thought it would be. The aroma was awesome and it was pretty good considering it’s tough to nail a strawberry beer. (Overall - 4.00)

3.99 | 89 | B+

Pours an alarming orange-red color, that is too much like Aperol. Some brief foam in the glass. Smells very fruity. Quite sweet with a sub-par carbonation. This tastes like Hawaiian punch with a spoonful of strawberry jam, and a shot of limeade. I was hoping for something like an actual Wheat Wine, of which I've had too few, so this fruit concoction was less than exciting. It's drinkable, but not the sort of thing I would deliberately want to drink. From the 16 oz can. Dated 02/08/24.

In a tulip at the taproom. Looking forward to a humped-up kettle sour, but it really wasn't like the Fruit Tramp. Nice rose color and little head (which is fine for the style). Light berry on the nose but almost no berry on the tongue (to me, at least). Was expecting at least a bit of tart, but not even that. Actually kind of bland and that was disappointing. Easy drinking for the AC content, but if it's truly an 8.4% (really?) then it could come back to haunt you...but it wasn't worth drinking that much to get there.

Only my 4th Wheatwine, so I'm not offering a definitive review relative to Super Tramp's peers in this style. Different, Super Tramp has lots of strawberry-fruit. Also trying to take a sweet wheat brew and amp-up the ABV to a wheatwine actually sounds like a very difficult process. So I'm not surprised it failed here. However, it uses enough wheat to make Super Tramp soft in the mouth and that helps me think that this is dessert.

However, I do give good Overall Hugs to Dust Bowl. They have four taprooms and three of them serve food. (While the food menus are thoughtful, I wouldn't call them gastropubs.) With four strategically placed taprooms, Dust Bowl also seems to have a different model for evolving. Yet another micro does not feel comfortable in the canned distribution network so clearly dominated by macros..

 

Bottle shared at Retsinis' tasting.

Manufactured 1/30/15.

Pours a hazy reddish-orange with a foamy off-white head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, wheat, caramel, strawberry jam, and strawberry hard candy aromas. Taste is much the same with grain, wheat, earth, and strawberry jam flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of earth bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with nice strawberry jam and candy qualities that are slightly better in the smell to me.

Serving type: bottle.