Rough Draft
Ithaca Beer Company

 

 

 

Had this at the expo.

Poured a light golden that was mildly hazy, as expected for a wheat beer. It looked pretty lively and inviting. The first waft threw me off guard. This smells like an apricot wheat beer. Bleh, not my style already. Then comes the taste. Ithaca, please don't tell me you're trying to imitate Magic Hat #9. Because this is rather similar and I'm not a fan at all. You put a LeBleu on the table and have this next to that greatness. Le sigh. I will admit though, this seems like it would be a crisp and refreshing summer beer for those who enjoy it. Good thing this is a rough draft and not a final copy.

On tap at Ithaca Memorial Day weekend 2011.

Pours a cloudy yellow color with a thin white head and a bit of lacing. The nose carries some light citrus and a bit of wheat. Some orange and a bit of light straw. The flavor was pretty decent, carrying some straw and light grain plus a bit of a wheat presence. Along with that came some light citrus and some stone fruits. Light bodied and quite refreshing on a very warm day. Pretty nice brew.

Got a growler of this at the brewery. It's a ramped-up verson of Apricot Wheat, with more of a German-like weissbier base and a puree of real apricots and Fuji apples.

A - Pours a cloudy straw color with a large fluffy white head that slowly reduces.

S - Fruity - apple, citrus, and a bit of banana.

T - Tart apple is prominent - I've had Fuji apples many times before and I recognize them here. There's a bit of apricot and some banana ester flavor. No hop bitterness, really - instead this is balanced mostly by tartness from the fruit and the wheat.

M - body is light enough to be refreshing but still holds up well.

Overall - a nice reboot of Apricot Wheat, which wasn't really my style. This has some nice flavors going on and it was a refreshing break from my usual IPAs.

The beer pours a hazy gold color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a light, pale and wheat malt scent along with a refreshing citrus nose. It has a wonderful bitter orange peel aroma. The taste is decent. It has a solid pale and wheat malt flavor. It seems a little heavy with pale malts. Again, the citrus character stands out. It goes down easy and finishes dry with a light, almost hefe yeast character. I believe it's an American wheat, but there is a touch of banana/clove esters. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a pretty good beer. It could use some tweaking, but that's what this series is about.