The Bruery Orchard White

Brewed by The Bruery
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Placentia, California USA

750 ml. Pale yellow, hazy body. Big, white head, slowly diminishing. Strong note of lavender in the nose along with lemon, safe, toasted grain, flowers, herbs and bread. The flavor is lightly to moderatley sweet, lightly bitter and lightly acidic. It finishes lightly sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Thin to medium body, watery texture and very fizzy carbonation — so fizzy it scrubs much of the flavor from the tongue fairly quickly leaving a strange and not all that pleasant floral aftertaste — like bitter petals on the tongue. While there is a solid wit profile in the main body of the beer, it is hard to get around the incongruity of the lavender. For my taste, lavender is better left to scented candles, room fresheners, bath soaps and New Age teas.

Bottle. Poured a hazy yellow-light orange color. The head was bubbly and tall with long retention. Some lace was left behind on the glass at the end. Smelled nice. The coriander and orange were apparent with wheaty goodness supporting them. Light bodied and over-carbonated. The acidity from the CO2 squashed any sweetness that might have existed. There was a lemon-like note up front with orange and coriander emerging in the middle and lingering. All of this was enveloped by the ever present wheat and pale malt. There was an odd flavor that I couldn’t put my finger on; maybe the lavender? Interesting wit.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a small white head. Has a sweetish fruity spicy wheaty aroma with some hints of citrus. Sweetish wheat malty spicy and slightly yeasty flavor. Has a sweetish wheat malty spicy yeasty finish with some citrus in the aftertaste.

On draft at Brass Tap, Wesley Chapel, FL. Pours hazy yellow with a frothy white head. Nose is slight malt with citrus, lavender, floral hops, honey, and spice. Flavor is similar with a light to medium body that lingers with spice, citrus, and lavender after the finish. Nice twist on a sessionable style.

Tap. Light bread and straw notes for the malt, moderate flowers and perfume for the hops, light soap and dough for the yeast, with background notes of lavender, cardboard and sulfer. Head is small, thin, white with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is murky yellow/tan. Flavor starts moderately acidic, then the short finish is faintly sweet and lightly acidic. Palat eis light to medium, watery but a little slick and has a soft to lively carbonation. An interesting mix of flavors and aromas, but there’s not too much I like about it.

opaque hay yellow with minimal lace. small, quickly dissipating white head. yeasty bread notes, mild belgian hop aroma. pleasant mouthfeel, appreciable carb. enjoyed.

Bottle. Pours a hazy light orange with an absolutely massive head on first pour out of the 750. After it dies down, there is a bit of foam clinging to the side of the glass (and subsequent pours don’t release nearly the same amount of head.) Aromas are a mix of herbs, light fruit, wheat... Flavor is pretty mild, but there’s quite a bit of stuff going on. Fruity sweetness (honey and very faint oranges), a herbal and grassy concoction and a little bit of light citrus peel or something. This is way lighter and airier than I expected, which leaves me wanting a bit more of an assertiveness, but it’s a pretty nice beer. At this price, however, more is in order.

750 ml bottle from Binnys (Orland Park, IL). Pours a hazy straw, light hued and lively carbonation, leads to a huge whitish head that laces ok, dies down to a moderate layer, still pretty big. Aromas are a nice orange zest forward push, coriander but lighter on spice, flaked white wheat maltiness, a touch cereal. Mellow. Initial is light and lively, mellow sweetness, lightly bitter orange peel, mellow sweeter cereal malts and a touch of coriander spice that doesn’t dominate and actually falls behind quite a bit. A touch of soap, light bitterness and dryness on the backend. This beer is very well balanced, a touch of orange, very light spice that does just enough, malty cereal flaked wheat with a faint bitterness, faint orange blossom. This is a nice, light, lively wit. A cut above the middle shelf moving towards the top.