Macs Blonde Mac

Formerly brewed at Macs Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Wellington, New Zealand

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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On tap at Warners in Christchurch. Thought I’d be getting a blone wheat beer when I asked for this, but nup, it wasn’t. Puzzling aroma of fruit and enjoyable beer, but the label bothered me. Blonde? No way.

330ml bottle b/b 15/06/07. Pale straw coloured, thin milky head.Faint dry hoppy but dominant yeast aroma. Relatively non-descript with a brief wheat finish. Nice quaffer but no classic. No sign of any orange/coriander...???

Smells and looks nice but again (similar to a few Mac’s beers) too much in the way of orange and coriander. I just don’t understand why you’d do that to a witbier. I drank one and gave the other five away (my flatmates love me).

Looks like a peroxide blonde. Citrus fruity aromas, like orange crush cordial, which I quite like. Couldn’t see myself drinking more than 1 of these in a sitting though.

Witbier - Never really liked the style anyway, but this, this was a shambles. I was a little rough on the pour, just eager to get this little gem into the glass and down the gullet I guess!!!!. Ended with an inch thick, snow-white head that retained well and impressively frosted the sides of the tulip. The body of beer a not so bright (chill haze perhaps!) lemony yellow. Simple club lemon soda aroma with a touch of fresh squeezed lime and good ol’ SWEATY SOCK. Dry and powdery on the palate at first. Quite zingy, lightly sour and favouring lemon fizz-whizz and potato starch. Watery thin in body and quite stretched for any other character aside from a soapy, detergent-like feel and flavour that develops like a plague. Becomes flabby and lifeless by the finish, by which I was glad it was over. Quite honestly boring and chemical to drink. Not good at all. (33cL, 10/11/06, Morley Liquor Merchants)

A poor Kiwi filtered witbier. As others have observed, this tastes like a spiced lager shandy, with few of the qualities of a good wit. It’s a clear watery gold with a 1cm cap of foam. The aroma is all lime cordial and lemonade - very citric. But in the mouth this really disappoints. It’s a discordant mix of soda water, lemon juice, coriander and lager shandy. Rounded palate, moderate carbonation. The orange peel is too intrusive, giving this a soft drink-like acidity. Just doesn’t come together. (330ml bottle from Clovelly Vintage Cellars)

Draught at The Honest Lawyer, Nelson. Clear pale golden, no head. Obvious orange aroma. Medium bodied with clean, rounded mouthfeel. The body is unusually beefy for a witbier and the coriander flavour is ramped up as well. Still it’s a more than decent effort.

Bottle. Some urinal cake in the aroma. Watery, with a thin zesty lemon character. Some subtle coriander character. Not much going on it has to be said, tasted like lemonade or something.

Very citrussy, with a little wet-dog element too. Palate is dominated by orange and lemon flavours, which early on I quite liked as it was 32 degrees outside. But as I got through it, the citrus flavour became a little too much, and seemed artificial in a way. Certainly has no characteristics to suggest it is a wheat beer-- no estery quality, no wheatiness in the palate, no banana/bubblegum notes-- it wasn’t even the least bit hazy. I feel a little cheated by this beer, but I am willing to cut it some slack because I truly did enjoy it in the hot Perth sunshine.

Aroma: zesty with some floral hop. Appearance: very pale gold yellow with a big head and some lacing. Flavour: sweet florally and citrus. Palate: finishes with a bit of banana and drinks clean.