Firehouse Wheat
Firehouse Brewery & Restaurant

This was a terrible example of the style, though I wasn't exactly expecting much from the brewery considering the town it resides in.

The appearance is an ultra pale light with moderate carbonation and a thin white head, which leaves a bit of a soapy lacing. Served in a frosted pint glass.

The smell was almost totally lacking. Had some light citric aromas and a soapy off-flavor odor. The frosted glass surely was no help to the nose.

The taste was the most soapy of the three soapy off-flavored beverages I drank here. This beer was only distinguishable from a pils because of its utter lack of hops character. It was a bit sweet and malty, but didn't have any sort of a bite from the wheat. The main flavor seemed to be the soapy off-flavor (in all three sample glasses and in all three pint glasses).

The mouthfeel was watery as expected, since Iowa beers are restricted to sub 6.25% ABV (this one in particular was likely under 5, but still tasted a bit watered down). No bite, no bitterness, only a dry soapiness.

I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to check out the Firehouse for this brew, or any of the others for that matter.

Pale goldish hue, thin in color, there is very minimal haze, served with almost no head, only a few white bubble islands that floated aimlessly. No lace was produced, as expected. So by “wheat” they meant American, bummer. The nose is oddly lively; it smells like Sprite or vaguely like AB’s Tequiza. The bouquet is lemony-citrus with hints of lime. The citrus is not indicative of hops. The aroma has good potency but if is far from inviting, interesting, yes. The palate matches the nose, lemony-citrus upfront, minty and herbal in the middle (which I enjoyed), refreshing cleanliness at the finish. The carbonation provides a strong bite. This is a rather boring ale, for the most part, decent to quench your thirst with on a hot summer day, but I sampled this in December. My girlfriend thought this was more typical of a Pilsner, I can see that, it is lager-like for sure. The body is thin, medium-light only if it flexed. Easy to drink but there is nothing going on, there are a lot of flaws and oddities in this beverage, I need not list them here. It is not worth trying… yet I found it okay.