W'08 Crimson Wheat
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

W'08 Crimson WheatW'08 Crimson Wheat
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From:
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
American Dark Wheat Beer
ABV:
4.9%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.5 | pDev: 11.14%
Reviews:
40
Ratings:
46
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 18, 2013
Added:
Jan 14, 2008
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Mora2000:
Photo of Mora2000
Reviewed by Mora2000 from Texas

2.91/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Beer poured a reddish brown with a thick, two finger head. The smell was slightly fruity, but other than that I couldn't really place what the beer smelled like. The taste was not anything like I expected it to be, as it was a lot maltier than any other wheat beer I had ever tasted. There was only a slight fruit taste to the beer. Overall, not a bad beer, but I wouldn't classify it as a wheat and I probably wouldn't purchase it again.
Mar 29, 2008
More User Ratings:
Photo of LXIXME
Reviewed by LXIXME from New Mexico

3.58/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Small white head quickly dies over a golden amber colored beer.

Caramel malts and hints of wheat in the aroma.

The wheat and caramel malts blend well in the taste of this Crimson Wheat.

A slightly dryish aftertaste with a bit of the beers tastes remaining behind with this medium bodied beer.

A pretty strong tasting beer for a wheat, if your into wheats you should try seek this one out.
Oct 18, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Kopfschuss from Oregon

Aug 18, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by JamLand from District of Columbia

Jul 01, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by t0rin0 from California

Mar 07, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by shelby415 from Oregon

Mar 01, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by Wetpaperbag from Washington

Feb 08, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by rab53 from Washington

Dec 10, 2011
Photo of BeerAdvocate
Reviewed by BeerAdvocate from Finland

3.7/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Review from BeerAdvocate magazine Vol. II Issue VII:

The "W" Brewmaster's Release Series is a chance for the brewers to really experiment. Along with the Two-Row Pale Ale Malt, there is Dark Wheat, Caramel Wheat and Red Wheat, so right off the bat you know it's not going to be your typical Pale Wheat Ale.

Tiny, tightly beaded bubbles make up the thin lacing. Bright and clear amber color. Sweet and bready, healthy breakfast cereal and a hint of caramel in the nose. Extremely smooth with a semi-lush medium body. Big malt character, some sweetness up front with more of a bready biscuity mix and caramel undertone. The wheat stays very clean throughout. Hoppiness is modest with just enough bitterness for balance. Mild fruitiness of pears and mealy apples. Big bready overtone in the slightly dry finish.

A very complex malt bomb from Widmer, they obviously know how to handle their wheat, and we'd love to see them expand with more wheaty beers. As for Crimson, we give it the thumbs up.
Sep 13, 2010
Photo of htomsirveaux
Reviewed by htomsirveaux from Texas

3.17/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
12 oz. bottle tried 24 Feb 2008.

What little head tries to make an appearance dissapears in an instant. Slight carbonation. Clear ruby red color. Faint aroma of bread. Starts with a slight maltiness that stays more or less constant throughout, some caramel. Faint bitter aftertaste. Medium body. Alcohol slightly noticeable in the aftertaste.

Pretty easy to drink, inoffensive.
Mar 01, 2009
Photo of MrHungryMonkey
Reviewed by MrHungryMonkey from Texas

3.5/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Nose is a little sour and wheaty with lemon/lemongrass notes. Notes of chocolate and caramel/toffee. Smells pretty good.

Pours a deep toffee brown, good clarity, moderate creamy head. Looks good.

Mild chocolate, mild sourness, some grape-like fruit, some lemongrass. It's creamy, tart, and sour just as I'd expect a wheat beer to be. Slightly dry and grainy with mild malty sweetness. Tastes pretty good. Feels pretty good. Pretty good drinkability.
Feb 09, 2009
Photo of HardTarget
Reviewed by HardTarget from Texas

4.05/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A) Clear amber glass with a thin cover, no lace.

S) Little malt, an earthy spicy note that makes me think rye. Mild nose overall.

T) Rich flavor for such a modest nose. Earthy caramelization rough wheat, lots of sweet base, no hops noted.

M) Slick texture, dry finish, low carbonation, nice feel.

O) Enjoyable! Great flavor, unique without being weird.

Thanks to Pegasus for the sample!
Nov 10, 2008
Photo of callmescraps
Reviewed by callmescraps from Massachusetts

3.08/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Ok, so I grabbed it at 7/11. That being said, I still had high expectations.

Appearance - Very deep red/amber. Almost no head at all, which should have been my first hint.

Smell - Not bad, definitely getting the malts, some burnt/caramelized hints as well. Not much going on.

Taste - Some of those burnts malts, a little bitterness. Kind of tastes like some water splashed in an old coffee cup with that coffee residue. Ok, that description seems a little harsh, but I'm trying to say it had some almost cough syrup/old coffee combination that wasn't bad, but just different.

Mouthfeel - Very, very smooth. With almost no carbonation, it's pretty watery.

Drinkability - Surprisingly high. It just sort of went down, and if I was feeling another beer I'd put it away again.

Not what I was expecting, but maybe that says more about me than the beer. It was definitely ok, and I actually thought it went down smooth without a harsh aftertaste, while still having a pretty legit flavor. That being said, if a capable brewery is doing this one as a special, you have to think they could have done some more with it.
Aug 24, 2008
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.63/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Crimson Wheat is really more of an orangish bronze with brick red undertones. A thick slice of khaki colored foam looks good atop the beer and is more than capable when it comes to lace deposition. This is an attractive American dark wheat.

The aroma is toasted and lightly caramel-like. That's no surprise given the following malt bill: three types of wheat (dark, caramel, red) and four types of barley (pale, caramel, rye, chocolate). Unfortunately, the nose is a little lacking in personality.

W '08 is decent enough... if you don't mind understatement. Unless the beer has been highly hopped (think Three Floyds Gumballhead), I'll take a dark wheat ale, like this one, over a pale wheat any day of the week. At least the malts provide some flavor interest other than simple grain.

Sweetish caramel and a hint of berry-like fruitiness are positives. Too bad the brewers couldn't have added more rye and/or more chocolate malt. Alchemy and Sterling add a gentle finishing bitterness and very little flavor. This is pretty good beer, but more is expected from something with "Brewmasters' Release" on the label.

The mouthfeel is closer to medium than light. The softness of the bubbles is fine, but this is one of those cases in which more energy would have helped. Then again, if you're sessioning, the quiescent carbonation is made to order.

It's a mystery how I missed drinking W '06 and W '07. Since W '05 was merely okay and W '08 is only slightly better, no great loss. It's a good bet that Widmer Brothers sells a ton of this stuff up Oregon way. One and done is more than fine with me.
Aug 02, 2008
Photo of SickBrew
Reviewed by SickBrew from Washington

2.85/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Poured her into a glass and did not observe very much head. Aromatically, I was not very impressed, just not much there.

Taste: OK, but it was a bit watered down and almost tasted flat. The crimson factor? I didn't pick up too much there.

Mouth feel: A bit watered down.

Overall, OK but I would expect better from Widmer.
Aug 02, 2008
Photo of mattster
Reviewed by mattster from Texas

3.73/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Opened 12 Fluid ounce bottle, poured into nonic glass.

Poured a nice head of ½" atop a red (er crimson) ale that was slightly hazy with some good bubble action.

Smell was somewhat light, mostly wheat notes. Taste has a really good balance of wheat and a little bit of malt. Very refreshing on these hot summer Arizona nights. Bubbles are active on palate, but not overwhelming. Good finish, but slight aftertaste. Otherwise, I wish I had another 2 or three of these to finish of the evening.
Jul 26, 2008
Photo of elniko
Reviewed by elniko from Texas

3.07/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Poured into pint glass

A: Very little head, deep crimson color as the name implies. Not impressed with the appearance.

S: Wheat tones, strong alcohol on the nose as well. Solid on the nose with some hints of caramel.

T & M: Definite caramel and mild chocolate tones in the taste. A little sweet with a slightly watery aftertaste.

D: Drinkable, but wouldn't go out of my way to have again. Similar to other Widmer in that it is very average.
Jul 25, 2008
Photo of russpowell
Reviewed by russpowell from Arkansas

3.33/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours an effervescent caramel/orange with 2+ fingers of tan colored head. Above average head retention & lacing

S: Faint caramel & cereal, caramel is a little more prominent as this warms

T: Faint pear & apricots, faint herbal hops up front. Slight orange peel & some grainyness as this warms. Some caramel & biscuitty malt in the finish

MF: Light bodied, vigirous carbonation that tones down as this warms

Drinks alright, but not much flavor here, would do in a pinch. Was better on draft
Jun 26, 2008
Photo of HalfFull
Reviewed by HalfFull from California

3.25/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
12 oz. bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a slightly red amber with decent clarity. Half inch of off white head dissipates quickly and yields some minimal spotty lacing.

Smells of light sweet malts, a bit more smoky/earthy when agitated.

A slightly sweet roasted malt flavor overrides any wheat presence. Finishes with a touch of bitterness with well balanced carbonation. Strong Amber/Bock flavors for a wheat based beer.

Drinkability suffers in my opinion from an excessive malt sweetness in the finish. This is a relatively light brew that doesn't need to mask it's alcohol content, yet the finish seems oddly out of place.
Jun 02, 2008
Photo of PhageLab
Reviewed by PhageLab from Virginia

3.55/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Poured into a standard pint glass.

A - Light brownish-red coloration. Head was a decent two tip layer which settled to a thin covering. Lacing was spotted.

S - Sweet caramel malt aroma with some faint cherry notes.

T - Sweet body, no real hop presence, rich malty backbone, not bad but a bit one sided.

M - Light bodied, medium carbonation level, crisp finish.

D - Not a bad brew at all, and a good one to enjoy sitting around a campfire deep in the mountains of Nevada, where I had the pleasure of knocking back quite a few of these. Good beer for the price, as I recall a sixer was around $7.
May 12, 2008
W'08 Crimson Wheat from Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 46 ratings