Boulevard 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Serve in Shaker, Weizen

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On draft at the KCBM 2011 Homebrew Competition. Aroma holds no real surprises, with plenty of citric, fruity hop, lemon, faintly grainy, wheat malt and very slight esters in the background. Thoroughly cloudy golden color, with a fine, lasting head, really doesn’t appear to be any different than the standard Wheat. Flavor is decently hopped as well, again with an overt citrus character from beginning to end, paired with a distinctly wheaty malt base, this showing through primarily at the finish, which is dry and fairly refreshing. Some lingering leafy hop character here as well. Bitterness is fairly light, surprisingly. Body is light-medium, palate is creamy and effervescent. Nicely balanced and refreshing. Heck of a lot better and more interesting than Boulevard Wheat, but I am likely just burned out on that stuff.

In short: A tart and fruity-hoppy wheat base ale. Very good.
How: Bottle 12oz, consumed fresh one week after purchase from a Kansas store.
The look: Cloudy dark yellow body topped by a medium white head with medium retention.
In long: Nose is dominantly hoppy blending with the fruity esters of wheat beer creating an inviting aroma that is a mix of pineapples, grapefruits and bananas. Taste offers a very solid wheat backbone, fresh bakery white bread, fresh bananas, sharp bitter grapefruits, hops resin, freshly squeezed lemons, medium yeast presence. Medium tartness, low-medium bitterness. My bottle lacked a bit of carbonation which is surprising coming from a mass produced Boulevard 12oz bottle. The lack of carbonation made the beer feel a bit heavier than it certainly is. I enjoyed this beer despite the low carbonation and I’m sure I would love it with a more active carbonation. A nice beer my wife brought me back from a business trip, and when I miss my wife because she is away on business I just type stuff in Google because it finishes all my sentences with stuff I didn’t mean.

sixer from Specs .. . first to hit is the uplifting nose.. . hazza .. . pineapple, pear skin, wheat, sea shell, and light english hops .. . gold .. . e for effort .. . very tasty session brew.. . . and to think,i was looked at weird for bringing a driver to the putt putt course...

12oz bottle. Poured a real hazy yellow color with a nice, thick white head. Aroma was a grainy, wheat note, with some light citrus and malt notes. Flavor was notes of some wheat notes, hops and malts. Flavor was plenty of hops, citrus. Very interesting. Props for originality. Enjoyed.

Pours pale golden with a white head. Aroma is fruity, citrusy hops. Flavor is fruity hop and some wheaty malt. Lightly bitter clean finish.

Multiple samples at the Boulevard tasting room, post tour. Tour guide was good enough to supply me with a full pour! Pour is a cloudy hazed yellowish white with a smallish white head. Aroma is bright tropical pineapple fruit hop, orange fruit sweetness, along with the malt wheat, finishing with further sweetness. Taste is the bright tropical fruit hops, orange citrus fruit, both of which are balanced nicely with the wheat and malt. The finish reintroduces the sweetness of the nose. Fresh and vibrant, really nicely balanced. Palate is light to medium bodied, nice scrubbing active carbonation and a dry finish. High level of drink-ability. Nice, fun, alive interpretation of a classic.

Binny’s bottle drank in Indy. A little miffed because I didn’t check the best by date but it was only 2 weeks off. Didn’t seem to dampen the flavors at all. Lot’s of hoppy citrus on top of a nice wheat backbone. Up there with Gumballhead.

Pours a cloudy straw with a loose, fluffy, white head that leaves patchy lace on the glass. The nose is of citric and herbal hops alongside candy sugar and wheat malt notes. The palate is light-bodied with fairly soft carbonation and a touch of a sour-twinge bitterness at the finish. Citric hops backed by a wheaty malt backing, the hop flavor lingers in the finish without the lingering bitterness you get from an IPA (or an APA for that matter). This is an interesting beer, I can’t think of any other "hoppy wheat" beers, that I’ve tried, where the hop presence is so pronounced in the nose and flavor profiles but so conspicuously absent on the palate. Without the tongue-squeezing bitterness of a Gumballhead or Schneider-Brooklyner collaboration, this may not fill-the-bill for someone craving hop bitterness, but it is definitely one of the most flavorful and sessionable wheat beers on the market, today. Nice job guys.

hazy gold. Lemon, melon, grass, yeast. Flavor is quite nice, just a hint of funky weirdness which isn’t distracting. Finishes clean, little bitterness for the amount of hop flavor in this one. Snappy carbonation.

Bottle. Hoppy aroma. Slightly unfiltered golden yellow color, thin white top, lacing. Floral, grass, spruce, citrus, orange, and lemon zest. Lively carbonation, medium body. Near perfect balance of an IPA and a hefeweizen. Major props!