German Style Wheat Beer
Erie Brewing Co.

 

Well I have tasted one of Matt Allen's hefeweizen out at Four Son's and it's a damn shame that they didn't get ahold of his recipe before he left. As German style as the label claims it to be this one is an American wheat in my book no esters to be found. Appearance is cloudy golden white slightly effervescent head leaves even rings of lacing. Aroma has pale wheat malts bready yeast notes touch of German hops mild fruit characteristic if you imagine real hard. Taste has slightly tart wheat malts with a touch of fruitiness here as well light herbal hop note to finish sort of bland and bready with yeast flavor. Mouthfeel has decently spritzy carbonation nowhere near a German hefe lighter bodied goes down pretty smooth. Drinkability is not horrible here I was expecting full on hefeweizen got an American wheat not bad for that style I don't really care for it much.

Appearence: Pours an attractive hazy orange with a huge, creamy, long lasting white head. Nice amount of carbonation.

Smell: Banana and fruit notes from the wheat at first, with a tiny (very tiny) bit of hop bitterness. Seems balanced enough, but a slight metallic scent is detectable.

Taste and Mouthfeel: The taste is basically a very good Hefe, brewed correctly and carefully, the bottle fresh and handled well, but watered-down. All the correct flavors are there, just weak. That doesn't mean it's bad, I just feel the flavor isn't living up to it's potential, if you will. The mouthfeel again is watered down, but still retains the smooth creaminess a hefe needs.

Drinkability and Overall: Beer number 2 of the 3 new Erie beers. First one, bomb. This one, not quite. It's a good attempt, but one I feel the recipe just needs a bit of tweaking. Hopefully Erie sticks with it and isn't afraid of experimenting with this beer. They really could create something magical.