Van Winkle Kristal-Weizen
Hudson Valley Brewing Company

Billed as a kristal-weizen, but flavored with blackberries. Dark golden orange/amber color (looks nothing like a kristal weisse), cloudy with virtually no head. Still the color is quite appealing. Nice hint of blackberries and wheat in the nose. Taste is emminently refreshing due to high proportion of wheat, with a faint twang of the berries but decidedly understated. Overall taste is lacking a bit; pleasant, certainly, but bland. This may be a symptom of the brewery's claim that their beer is "calorie conscious." Faint trace of malts, it's mostly wheat here, with hardly any hops. Appeasing finish but nothing that lingers. I like it but it's nothing terrific, and the style is a bit muddled. Perhaps best to think of it as a summer fruit beer.