Bear Republic Das Koma

Brewed by Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Healdsburg, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Weizen

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Orange in color with a white head. Citrus, pine, and herbal hop aromas. Some sweet caramel, bread, and toast. A little bit of grapefruit and some floral notes on the finish. The flavor is a bit sweet, but decently hoppy. Grapefruit peel, lot of orange, and floral hops. A touch of perfume, some pine, and a light bitterness.

Tap at Oskar Blues HMLS. Clear golden with a thin persistent head. Nose was subtle and bland, consisting of only wheaty and somewhat citric orange peel tones. Flavor was a little better with a full bodied wheat and pale malt body, a little orange peel bitterness, and boozy esters. A little boring and bland.

On tap at City Beer. Pours clear golden with a nice off-white head and a fruity aroma. There is a bitter wheat flavor that is a bit smoky. It’s really too bitter for a wheat ale.

Pale straw coloured beer. The nose is wheaty and a little bit bubble gum like. Citrusy and quite wheaty with a subtle sort of minty hoppiness. The wheat really shows through here as well. Lovely wheatwine.

Cask at Toad In the Hole. Slightly foggy pale amber with low fine white head and persistent lace. A bizarre choice for pump delivery, what with its strong boozy top note backed up by milder herb and sulfur. Flavor is not much more agreeable, though what little nobility pops through is nice. Hot and biting on the palate, with scant bubbliness or refreshability to ameliorate the brusquitude.

Tap. Pours hazy amber with a small quickly disappearing head and no lacing. Aroma is citrus, wheat, a bit of lemon. Flavor is citrus, pine, wheat, a touch of grass. Didn’t really come together well for me.

Draft. Semi cloudy golden amber, with a white head. Sweet malt, notes of wheat, bitter hops, citrus, and sugary. Too sweet for my taste. More of an American strong ale.

This was a draft pour at THE LOCAL Beer Bar in Eureka, CA. It poured a cloudy orange amber with a white head and light lacing. The nose is citrus, with some light tropical fruit. The body is medium and the mouthfeel is oily, probably from the wheat. The flavor is much like a DIPA, with lots of citrus hops. No sign of the wheat in the taste. The finish Is somewhat dry and bitter, and again the wheat is not detected. Overall this is basically like a DIPA however it is tasty and quite drinkable.

UPDATED: MAY 30, 2012 Growler, was at the brewery. ABV’s 9.4%, by the way. Aroma: Sweet, citrus and grain; alcohol. Appearance: Minimal head and lacing; murky, somewhat dead body; orange-brown body, orange-gold highlight. Taste: Sweet, citrus, grain, and alcohol. Palate: Lightly creamy, sometimes chewy. Overall: Its own style; not a wheat ale to me, but what it is absolutely is an okay strong ale. I’m not sure about what they’re doing, but an Imperial Wheat seems counteractive because a Wheat to me is like a session ale while doubling that up would be, well... You decide. I think they’re trying to add wheat to a strong IPA and it does taste similar to their other offerings.

No head left; dark hazy amber. Fine, held-in-check C-hops. Sample seems a tad tired (served poorly). Harsh, but tasty crisp C-hops, orangezeste or orangeoil. Litlle if any trace of wheat detectable. Spritzy aftertaste, quite oily-slick, bit of alcoholburn. Quite hard, but also quite enjoyable (!) (I) Pale (or wheat) ale.