Ten Fifty-Five Lazy Duck American Wheat

Brewed by Ten Fifty-Five Brewing
Style: Wheat Ale
Tucson, Arizona USA

Serve in Shaker, Weizen

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Lightly hazy, pale, straw colored beer that is topped by a frothy, thin, pale head. The aroma smells of pears, apples, some hay like notes, as well as a touch of raw grain character. There is a light herbal character here, as well as a hint of citrus zest; this last becomes a bit more prominent as the beer warms up.

Lightly sweet up front, with a soft citrus character that moves to a herbal, somewhat bitter, slightly green and astringent hop character in the finish. Fruit notes of green apple, and some pear like character round out the soft citrus notes. The beer is quite light bodied, certainly the type of beer that would be refreshing on a sweltering day, the carbonation (once again) seems quite a bit lower than it should be, but there is a soft prickle of texture here. This has a touch of a weird aftertaste here, perhaps something like menthol, or green pepper, not sure exactly bet it seems to pepper the finish. A soft, sweet grain character merges with a straw-like, grain and husk character, and perhaps even a touch of soda cracker like malt character. There is a touch of tartness here contributed by the wheat, but just a smidgeon.

This seems straight out of the 1990s, a beer that is meant to bridge the gap for the Bud Lite drinker; I am quite confident that the US, and even Tucson, has moved passed the necessity for a new, innovative thinking brewery to have a beer like this in its portfolio, but it also shouldn’t hurt the portfolio, assuming the rest of the beers are up to date. Certainly not a bad beer, there is a touch of off notes here that can be cleaned up as the new brewhouse stretches its legs, but I would have loved to see something like Gumballhead from Three Floyds (circa 2003), instead of a Widmer look alike, and I was actually expecting / hoping for something a bit more characterful.