What gives Gumballhead that taste? It's hard to describe, but has a slight sweetness. Is it the Amarillo hops, and if so, are their any other beers with that similar taste?
Amarillo hops have a definite "honey" sweetness, its a truly beautiful flavor. The wheat body combined with that flavor makes such a delightful beverage.
maybe lagunitas little sumpin sumpin? gumballhead does a nice job of standing out (imo), which is why i like it so much.
One of my favorite things about gumballhead is the ABV. For a beer to have so much flavor and so little alcohol is really special. Nothing like it.
Little Sumpin' Sumpin' and North Peak's Vicious are in the same ballpark. But Gumballhead is pretty much one of a kind.
Gumball Head, and other FFF brews, seem to have a honey-candy sweetness to them and I have no idea how they do it. I've heard that they boil their beers longer to caramelize the sugars, but considering how light in color Gumball Head is I don't know if it's true. Alpha King and Black Sun Stout have the flavor as well, and I think that Zombie Dust and their 22 oz. IPAs have a slight tinge of it as well. Whatever they do, they do it right. I made an all-Amarillo wheat bear similar to Gumball Head, and it was really tasty but it just didn't have that sweet flavor like FFF brews.
Jester King/Mikkeller Drink'in the Sunbelt, maybe. Another fairly low-alcohol wheat beer with Amarillo hops.
I don't brew, but my experience with cooking makes me think this isn't the case. I would think you would need much higher temperatures for caramelization.
I'm bumping this because I found a local beer here in indy that tastes quite a bit like my cherished GBH. Give Triton Fieldhouse Wheat a try and tell me that's not the same citrus zing! Keep it on the down low, though.
