Whatcom Wheat: Bellingham Beer Week No. 3 (2014) Collaboration Ale
Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro

 

 

 

 

16 ounce can courtesy of @BeerTunes.

A nice wheat ale. German yeast makes it a bit of a crossover between American Wheat Ale the Bavarian Style Hefe.

This was a slightly hazy, brilliant golden color, it poured with a large but short lived frothy cap.

Smells of tangy wheat and bubblegum mostly, some light spice as well perhaps. Very enticing. Tastes every bit as good as it smells. Sweet/tangy wheat dominates with enough bubblegum and banana to keep me thinking. As it warms, light, flowery spice and citrus emerge. God I love a good wheat beer. The only negative for was that the carbonation level seemed a bit low. Ramp it up and I would buy this by the case.

 

 

Bottle poured from a can/4 pk generously provided by @beertunes. Big thank you Terry.

In a day where cloudy beers seem to rule the roost this one pours as bright as any patron in an English pub in 1978 could hope for. It truly is a lovely sight. Head is scant, about a quarter inch of eggshell white foam sits atop.

Lots of grain in the nose mixed with floral hops.

I served this pretty cold and it was nice, but wow the hops are almost drastically different with a few degrees difference as it warms. I get lemons, earthiness, flowers and nice bitter finish that's clean. A bit of grain lingers.

I've got to say I'm really digging this. So well crafted and so drinkable. This would be great to session. I feared that having so many cooks in the kitchen might hurt this brew but my fears were unfounded. Delicious.

A finger of white foam ends two minutes later as a lasting ring and good skim atop a dark straw/light gold, slightly cloudy brew. Has the look of a kristalweizen almost. Pretty. 4.00

Nice light malt sweet, clove, bit of bubblegum, some tasty fruity hop in there, pepper, and a hint of floral in an aroma that may be on the light side, but is really alluring. 4.0

Also a lighter strength taste, but delicious. Pretty much accurate rendition of the flavors in the aroma, with clove less, pepper a bit more, and the hops now identified as light citrus and herbal backing. Superior balance, and as it warms the herbal serves to dry this well attenuated beer even more. Taaaaaasty brew for sure. 4.25

Nice mouthfeel for what I believe would have to be considered a hoppy kristalweizen. Light bodied, light/med. carb, excellent, interesting finish. Can honestly say I have never tasted a linger like this. And I like it. Dinged for a bit of resin buildup as I drink. 3,75

Wonderful beer, all you could ask for from a wheat ale made with top quality pilsner malt, refreshing and satisfying. 4.0

16oz. can received from the generous BA known as BeerTunes. Brewed for 2014’s Bellingham Beer Week, this was a collaboration beer involving nine breweries located in Whatcom County: Boundary Bay (duh), Kulshan, Chuckanut, Wander, Aslan, Menace, North Fork, Gruff, and Stones Throw. I was familiar with Boundary Bay and Chuckanut, but I had no idea there were that many breweries in and around the City of Subdued Excitement!

No weizen glass, so I poured it into a Sam Adams Boston Lager glass. The color was a slighty dark gold almost verging on amber, with good clarity and a big, creamy white head that hung around for a bit.

Soft and floral, with the banana and clove flavors of a hefeweizen present but in more subdued form. That earthy wheat aroma found in hefes is similarly dialed down.

The taste is very similar to the smell. A softer, mellower, lighter version of a well-made hefeweizen

Fairly light in body, with a soft, almost effervescent mouthfeel.

Not exactly a flavor bomb, but ridiculously drinkable! I’ve only ever had one other Kristalweizen, and this one sends that other one fleeing home in shame. I could drink this all day long.

Compliments of Beertunes.

It pours a not quite clear light gold with a small but stubborn head of foam.

The smell is big big on the wheat. Lightly spiced, imho, just a hint of clove, but again, the wheat comes through big time.

The taste resembles the smell. Big wheat with a bit of clove, no banana which I usually find in a Hefe. Not needed. This beer centers around wheat and it does a splendid job of it.

On the light side of medium bodied, medium carbonation.

I find the simplicity of this Hefeweizen very much to my liking. I'd drink more.

Dark yellow brew with a thin foam in the Affligem chalice. Malt is just slightly sweet and adds some body. Some grainy aromatics. A little bitterness in the scratchy finish. If this was a Witbier I'd say there was a little too much coriander.

A pleasant quaff with a drier note than most of these German wheat brews. From the 16 oz can purchased at Community Co-op in Bellingham.
3.75 3.5 3.75 3.5 3.75

What of the great things about this beer, is that it's innovative, and not like anything else I can recall ever having. I always appreciate it when a collaborative beer like this pushes the envelope.

The beer pours a fairly dark, striking gold color, with fair head retention and light lacing. The aroma profile is the first hint that you're in for something a bit unusual, as I pick up clove, banana and spice (what I normally associate with a good German wheat beer), but with some nice dry citrus as well, suggesting an IPA. The flavor profile is more of the same, though the clove, banana and spice clearly dominate the IPA or pale ale aspects of the flavor profile. There's a hint of bitterness on the finish, but the wheat ale and spice dominates. Mouthfeel is surprisingly full, especially for the abv. That being said, the alcohol is pretty well integrated into the flavor profile, There's some sweetness in this beer, but it's not over the top, and drinkability is pretty much excellent.

Really a solid effort, and a worthy representative for Bellingham Beer Week. I liked this one quite a bit.

Poured brilliant bright straw color gold. Yellow hues, almost impeccable clarity and a fat head of white foam that fell pretty reasonably . No real lacing . The nose is perfection. Light crisp wheat with it's natural sweetness. In the glass the wheat even smells tall. A light ripe banana, a very faint bit of bubblegum and a the lightest and most pleasant ethereal clove. A bit of citrusy scent.

Taste is flawless. Light mouthfeel - just borderline medium-light. Smooth, crisp and completely but softly dry. Wheat sweetness and a lovely bit of ripe banana. The clove is but a hint and the bubblegum is just a touch more prominent than that. None of the flavors dominate this beer is round. Low hop bitterness finishes this one easily and gracefully. Bit of tartness from citrus and a light spice with the pils malt inching forward just a tad int he finish.

This could be the only domestic Krisalweizen I have had and it is world class! Thank you @Beertunes for the chance to try this beer. I would drink this everyday.

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can into an Euler stange. Pours a light golden amber with a thin white head that dissipates to patchy foam and thin ring around the glass, no lacing. Aroma is sweet wheat, a hint of citrus and an unexpected hint of caramel. Flavor is wheat, light biscuit malt with hints of caramel and toast, light lemon, interesting. Light to medium bodied with peppry carbonation. An interesting take on a weizen. My glass had a faint haze, but certainly not as cloudy as a hefeweizen, don't remember if this is typical of this filtered variety. Although all the weizen characteristic flavors are here, they seem to be melded with a biscuity malt, which is not something I've noticed in a weizen before. This kinda reminded me of a kolsch, albeit a mildely weaty and citrus one. Not quite to style, but I really liked the flavor here, the wheat/malt base is pleasant and more substantial than I expected. Nicely done. I would gladly get this again for a hot summer day.

16oz can into a tulip. Pours a clear golden color w/ a 1-finger white head that settles to a thin film.

Aroma is an interesting blend of pepper, clove, Belgian yeast (and esters) (although it says German yeast, it has a Belgian character to me), lemon and spice. Has a floral, perfumy quality.

Taste is clean and crisp. Crackery light pilsner malt, clove and spice, faint ripe banana, lemon zest. Reminds me of a light hefeweizen, which I suppose maybe is what a kristalweizen is supposed to be, more or less.

Mouthfeel is also light and crisp, but a lack of carbonation is evident. It's basically still in my glass now. It's not flat, but I'd say it's undercarbonated.

Overall a nice drinkable summer beer. Not sure it's true to style as I haven't had many of these, and it seems a little more Belgian than maybe it should.

Big thanks to beertunes for sending this one down for me to try!