Hop Weizen
Free State Brewing Co.

I hate giving avg ratings to Free State beers but this one I couldn't finish.
A nice looking beer, but a bit too clear for the style. It was hazy just a bit. Large head, fluffy.

Cream/sweet corn aroma, thick. The citrus and spice was buried under this. Unfortunate because it seemed like a lot was going on under the corn. Sweet and syrupy.
Taste was lighter in the sweet corn area, but also with everything else. Citrus is weak and just gets bumped by the hops, which provide some crispness to this. Yet I would like to see the wheat and yeast provide the citrus or spice for crispness, not the hops in this beer. It's just too sweet for me, too much sweet/cream corn.
First and only beer I did not finish from Free State.

I got this beer at the brewery last fall. I found the notes just today and was happy - I really loved this beer and can no longer get it at the brewery.

Poured from the fresh growler ( I think this was the first beer I bought in my growler from Free State) into a Pint glass ( which was ironically from 23rd St. Brewery across town). This beer smells just like their golden wheat state beer - until you realize this wheat beer has hops. Lots of hops. Gives it a good strong citrus smell, reminiscent of a Pilsner. The taste is about the same - beautiful wheat malt with its banana fruity esters and tongue-tingling hops that give it an extra kick. The mouthfeel is better than your average American Wheat Ale, but the drinkability goes down a bit. A pretty good beer if you love the drinkability of a hefe, but want something a little more manly.

Appearance
Bright yellow and pretty clear for a hefeweizen; good, airy head

Smell
Minty hops and light hefe yeast banana-iness

Taste & Mouthfeel
A light body and light wheat flavors keep this hop-forward hefe uber-drinkable; it kicks off with lots of herbal--somewhat minty--hops that carry their way through, though mid-way the wheat and yeast make their presence known; thankfully, these qualities take a backseat to all the hops; really clean finish

Overall
This is my first hop-centric wheat and I really enjoyed it. Keeping the wheat and typical yeast flavors at bay and letting the hops take stage really work somehow. I'm not sure what hops they used, but I think they work really well with this variation on the style. This is a really good summer treat for lovers of hoppy ales and wheat beers.

Poured from a fresh growler into a weizen glass...

Appearance: Pours a very cloudy orangish-yellow with a nice yummy two-fingers of bright while fluffy head. Damn good lacing rings the glass all the way down.

Smell: Oranges, lemons, pine, and other citrus notes leap to the front. Some pineapple and coriander, but the overpowering nose is oranges and orange zest.

Taste: Tastes a heck of lot more orangey that it did on-tap. The sweet orange and citrus flavors definitely spring to the tip of my tongue, followed in short order by a medium hop bitterness and a decent amount of yeasty undertones. This beer is significantly more complex that I first expected.

Mouthfeel: A little on the sticky side, but that's to be imagined from the hefeweizen bloodline. The carbonation, while mild and muted, serves to create a crisp and refreshing aftertaste. The oranges sit lightly on the back of the tongue, and the pine from the hops induces the drinker to continue imbibing from this delectable potable.

Drinkability: Based on the hop background for this beer, I would guesstimate the ABV somewhere in the 5-6% range. For a beer this sweet and complex, this combination makes for an extremely drinkable brew. I would definitely order this again given the opportunity.