Free State Wit Lightning

Formerly brewed at Free State Brewing Company
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Lawrence, Kansas USA

Serve in Tumbler, Weizen

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Fairly light, not syrupy at all. I thought it was on the drier end of the sweet>>>dry scale. Loved the slightly herbal banana and pear esters in aroma. Fruity coriander and mostly leafy body. Grain and Jonathan apple in finish. What really made this beer for me was how it was restrained --FS loves to hop beers to death and I didn’t taste any of the house hop character. I’m also used to FS beers all having dull aromatic qualities -- noted the dry hopping and enjoyed it.

UPDATED: JUN 22, 2004 Draft: Opaque pear. Thin layer of tight white bubbles with a creamy edge. Aroma of leafy hops, chalky yeast, and coriander. Fairly herbal with hints of clove, apple, and freshly cracked pale malts. Very soft body. Tight, restrained carbonation. Amplified malt flavors yield to juicy noble hops and body-softening flower petals. Low acidity is driven away by the sweet toasted malt backbone. Spicy fennel and a juicy, melony Styrian Golding-like presence reduce the sweetness as the ever slight notes of coriander spring into action. Candy sugar dominates the finish amid lesser notes of candied white grapes, honey-drizzled melon, mint leaves, and firm phenols. Glazed malt, coriander, white grapes, and rose hips linger. If they lessened the sweetness, doubled the hops, and added some dryness, this would be unbeatable.

Sweet, lightly flowery, perfumey and honeyish aroma, with plenty of juicy lemon, doughy yeast, faint banana, orange peel, coriander and other spices, very full and largely sugary. Pale golden color with a slight rosy cast, hazy, with a fine, creamy head and artful lacing. Flavor begins with a hit of malty sweetness, becoming fruity, lightly tangy and spicy with a hugely refreshing, yeasty and lightly bittering finish, some lingering spicy, leafy hop flavors as well. Medium bodied, substantially "wet" palate, lush and smooth. An interesting and tasty beer, actually my first foray into "Double Wits". (Should have been called 'Lightning Wit', though, I think...)