BJs Grand Cru

On tap in Lewisville in January. Golden to orange in color with a decent lacy head that disappears quickly. Some alcohol present. Sweet and sour in the taste with some fruits. Smell has clove and fruits.

Draft at Orlando brewpub. Poured hazy orange color with an average creamy white head that mostly lasted with fair lacing. Moderate yeasty sour citrus aroma. Medium body with little carbonation and sticky texture. Medium balanced citrus flavor with a medium sweet & sour finish of moderate duration. Drinkable brew that met my expectations.

From tap at Tampa Brewpub : Pours semi clear with a finger of white fizzy head that dies right away. Apricot color. Smell is a sour funkyness with some yeast. Flavor explodes when in gets in your mouth, it is just weird, yeasty and bananas, i dont like this explosion. It doesnt seem very Grand Cru’y to me. Medium body that turns thin toward the end. Not much aftertaste, not sure about this one.

On tap at the McAllen, Texas Branch. Aroma stings the nostrils with orange oil and biting clove esters. Glowing with phenols and the yeast strain dominate. Pours a flaccid burnished gold. No head? Flavor moves in destructives sweeps of alcohol, phenols and sugar. Out of balance. Hops are missing and the yeast profile is rather unbearable. Some mature fruits pop up and dazzle lightly with sweetness, but mostly get buried in the high heat and sticky sweet. Not well done.

Worth trying, but I wouldn’t get it again. The yeast strain produced a lot of the banana flavours that is present in their ultra-banana hefe. I could have really enjoyed it if it was just as warm, but with less fruit and a touch more bitterness.