General Lafayette Weizen-heimer Bock

Bottled, brewed May 2005, sampled July 2006. An unclear deep red beer with a thin fast dying light brown head. The aroma is powerful with notes of wheat, berries, especially cowberries, and prunes, as well as light notes of banana. The flavor is sweet with notes of caramel, over ripe fruits, prunes, pineapples, and mango as well as light notes of wood. The alcohol leaves a slight burn in the mouth.

Opaque muddy brown with tan head. Aroma is medium sweet, clove, wheat, light banana. Taste is medium sweet, clove, light banana, noticeable alcohol. Medium-full body.

Cloudy brown, the covering off-white head lasts very long despite eventually receding to a ring. Room taking wheat fits the candied ice cream maltiness like a glove while the yeast brings on phenolic band-aids and medicinal taste nuances into the medley for a sweet and yeasty, but tasty weizenbock, interspersed by a lasting bitterness and a light slash of earthy hops.

On tap. Poured a hazy, cloudy dark amber color with a smaller off white head. Sweet aroma and tastes (caramel) with wheat, alcohol, some spices and bananas. </br> </br> Re-rate. On tap at GLI. Increased numbers as I found this one more enjoyable the 2nd time around.

2005 bottle at the brewpub in July 2008: Pours a transparent dark mahogany with ruby hues and a spotty-lacing froth of light tan head. Aroma of sweet plums and dark fruits with nice dark wheat and some black cherry and aged malt. Body starts fairly full and oily with a sweet aged dark malted wheat character and some doughy yeast and light fruity esters with a touch of vinous character toward a mildly warming finish. Pretty decent weizenbock but would be better a little fresher.

The Lure:
Cloves and grape bubblegum are propulsed from the dry yeastiness. A little too faint of an aroma to be spectacular, but something fun obviously resides within.

The Festivities:
Spritzy carbonation plows through the active cloves and sweet, fruity bubblegum esters. The yeast is doing its work splendidly, and there is enough malt to back it up. A flavorful and authentic example of the style.

Transcendence:
The nobles are lunching in the garden.

Amber color, with complex aroma of caramel malt, spices, toffee, nuts, figs. Tastes bocky, with some clove/banana elements at the finish. Complex and unique.

Sampled at the Philadelphia gathering, July 10. Opaque dark copper..caramel, smoke and a bit of wet dark wood, banana in the nose. Thick, quite a bit of noticeable alcohol, whiskey-vanilla-banana...rather sour, spicy finish. Good, but just a middle-of-the-road weizenbock.