Edge City Wit Bier
Bristol Brewing Company

This was the last beer of the evening on "bomber night". My bottle and Bristol's website list it at only 4.4% ABV. I thought this session beer would have a difficult time holding up to the higher gravity offerings of the evening. Boy was I wrong. It was the perfect end to short but sweet drinking tour. Refreshing with hints of coriander and orange peel. It would be a sin to add a lemon to this wit. As I expand my palate this would be a wonderful road to travel.

Bristol just threw a new batch of this on tap and I picked up a growler to take home after the Firkin Rendezvous last week. My friends and I split the jug over a nice batch of eggplant parmesan. Unfortuantely, the beer wasn't as good as the food my friend prepared.

It's handsome looking: champagne colored with a big rocky head that laces well. The bouquet is charming too...a spicy and aggresive mix of coriander and pepper. If this beer were to be evaluated on looks alone, it would pass my test with flying colors; it's when the tasting starts that things went downhill. The spices, especially coriander, are cloying and unbalanced. There was a disturbing diacetyl taste that really marred every sip of the brew, and took away from it's overall character. I was able to finish the growler (and a bomber too) by splitting it with other folks, but I would have had to make this a drain pour had I been drinking solo.

Stick with Bristol's other beers: Beehive, Mass Transit, EC Octoberfest, Skull and Bones, and XXX Warlock--and take a pass here.

Pours slightly hazy with straw color, effervescence, & a 1/3" white head. Great head retention& good lacing

S: Lemon zest

T: Lemon & pepery notes up front. Light fruittyness & pepper with more lemon in the finish

MF: Medium body with good effervescence& balance

Drinks very easy for the strength & is a fine example of the style IMO

Cloudy orange color. Major coriander comes out of the aroma, with hints of bitter orange peel, herbs, weeds, butter toffee and toasted nuts. Dull aroma unfortunately, with the overuse of spices covering up evrything that could be a bit Belgiany in the nose. I’ve always been a huge Bristol fan (just look at my ratings) and I am a huge fan of Belgian white beers, but when something sucks, it sucks and this just plain sucks. There is very little yeast complexity, although at least it shows signs of a Belgian strain. Overspiced, clearly and heavy on the coriander. Poor balance, with a thin body. Just lacking the magic of Bristol’s other beers. The yeast pour did improve the beer dramatically however, improving the score from a 2.2 to a 2.9.

gorgeous hazy maize. Froth needs a vigorous pour to rise. It's not dramatic, but adequate although it wimps our kinda soon. The aroma sizzles: Citrus scratch-n-sniff wall paper with floral print glued with wheat paste.
It has a nice spritzy mouthfeel.
Lemon mineral water. Dry herb rub rasps the palate. There's a lovely clover honey sweetness paired with lemon balm chapstick. The up front flavors are clear and clean. There's an appropriate aftertaste of fresh milk, and spicy bits. Umm, f*#@ yeah. mighty good.

This is one of their limited edition runs of their Edge City Series. Only on tap at Bristol Brewing Company. From the description of the Edge City line, whatever the brewer feels like making they make it.

Served in a thick glass goblet. Fluffy white head that dies down slowly, beautiful cloudy yellow with a bit of orange. Wheaty nose, with sweetness, coriander, and almost soapy. Very stong wheat flavor, full body, citrus orange flavor, and sweet. This is truly a great beer, a good solid Belgian Wit.