Santa Cruz Mountain Wilder Wheat

Brewed by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing
Style: Wheat Ale
Santa Cruz, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Weizen

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A very nice hefe sampled at a friday night happy hour. Poured very nicely with a golden hue and nice cloudiness. A little acidic but overall a very solid beer that went down smooth and quenching. A good beer.

cloudy gold yellow with a light diminishing head, acidic citrus hay aroma. med to light body and med carbonation tastes of tart apples lemon lime and a light grain with nice malty creaminess. mellow comforting and fairly balanced good and inoffensive

28-Jan-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 11-Jan-08 for $4.29 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) Hardly a sound when popping the cap, the hazy, medium-straw colored beer pours with only a thin, bubbly head that fully dissipates rapidly. Upon first tasting this "American Style Hefeweizen," the beer seems very light and uninteresting. Just not a lot of flavor or body. But after a few more sips, some interesting notes emerge. The wheat base is very light and almost evades detection, but that just allows the other flavors to come out more. Somewhat spicy, lightly citrusy, estery (almost-ripe banana), and mildly sweet, but also gently tart. The beer also has a very dusty, chalky quality, which I really dig. Aromas match the flavor, specifically the dustiness and tartness. Body and carbonation are certainly light, but with the spice, dustiness and light tartness, the end result is a refreshing beer that begins to resemble a saison in some respects. Not a great first impression, but that’s mostly because the beer didn’t match my expectations. Once past that, the beer is actually quite enjoyable.

Bomber (080807) from Bottle Barn. Aroma of wheat and light lemon. Hazy bright golden color with a white head that didn’t last. Thin to medium bodied with mild carbonation. The flavor starts a little bit citrus, has some pale/bready malt, and passes to something paperish. That passes as the citrus comes back with some bitter. Finish is sort of citrus and bitter. Very unusual, but it smells and tastes pretty good.

Bottle:   Pale straw, very cloudy, moderate to large sudsy white head, spotty lacing.   Wheat malt nose, slight sourness.   Very minor earthen funk.   Spritzy pale wheat malt flavor, slight soil and lemongrass.   Better than I expected, but its rather fizzy versus wheaty/thick.   Finishes with a bit more of that organic profile that one would expect.   Still, remains better than I thought it was going to be.   Simply, a little fizzy, not really wheaty enough, but had some minor sweetness and lemongrass notes that helped it along.

22oz bottle from BevMo La Mesa. A very intriguing Hefe. Nose was lightly sour and a bit funky with some citrus, same with the flavor. I had to think twice about this one, different.

Nearly clear yellow, moderate to large head with good lacing and retention. Aroma is light vanilla, some wheaty funk, pale malts. Light bodied, very drinkable, light tartness, moderate carbonation. Decentish...

Bottled. Beer is clear, pale yellow with a small, white, frothy, mostly and rapidly diminishing head.<P>Aroma is malty with moderate notes of toasted wheat bread crust, light/trace of biscuit/cracker; Hoppy with light resin, lemon zest and honeysuckle notes; Yeasty with a trace of cellar.<P>The flavor is lightly sweet, lightly/moderately acidic/sour with a long, lightly/moderately acidic, lightly bitter, trace sweet finish.<P>The body is light, the texture is watery and the carbonation is lively.

Bomber from Bottle Barn; Dated 08/08/07) Nose of grain, light apply fruitiness, and some lemon zestiness; very slightly hazed gold with a medium, quick disapating white head; flavor of whaet, apples, a little sourness, and very light bitterness for a finish.

From tap at the brewpub. Pours hazy yellow with no head. Aroma is light cornish and estery fruity. Classic wheat flavoured with a little more sweet malt base than usual for the style. Light bitter and fruity finish.