Wittekerke

It should be no secret by now how much I love witbiers.   Time for another witbier review. 

Wittekerke is a beer I read about when I first started getting into beer, and more specifically wits.  I looked for it in Buffalo and I was disappointed that I wasn't able to find it.   I came across it down here in Orlando and I decided, just based on hearing it was a good beer, that I would check it out.

I can't read their website because the brewery is based in Belgium..  yeah..

Just a little background info on the beer ...
WIT-style: A true WIT beer must be made of at least 25 % wheat malt in combination with barley malt. Belgian WIT beers are naturally cloudy since they are unfiltered.

WITTEKERKE charms you with its own character, smooth taste and a unique delicious aroma. A very pleasant drink, light in alcohol with a crisp and refreshing flavor. WITTEKERKE is always served cold, but in taking your time to enjoy it, you will find more flowery and spring flavors towards the end of your glass. Although the hoppy bitterness is an underlying taste, it is never dominant. Perfect white head.

WITTEKERKE is a fictitious name for a typical Flemish town, like we find hundreds of villages in Flanders with a name ending on KERKE (church) or KAPELLE (chapel). WITTE means white in English, thus the translation of the name is WHITE CHURCH. The Bavik brewery has since a long time brewed its own authentic WIT beer under the "Bavik Wit" label, but the brewery chose to change the name in cooperation with the producers of the Belgian sit-com "WITTEKERKE", airing twice a week in prime-time on the Belgian TV channels. The actors drink WITTEKERKE during the show.

WITTEKERKE is now the best selling WIT beer in Belgium off-premise, and was voted several years in a row the best Belgian WIT beer by Belgian beer connoisseurs.

FOOD COMBINATIONS: this refreshing light beer is mostly consumed with snacks at receptions and parties, or just as an excellent thirst quencher any time of the day. WITTEKERKE is the right choice with a very spicy Carpachio, with white fish, scallops or a fresh salad. An omelet dish will also make a good combination. Cheers.

It's also a 5% ABV

I'll be sampling it out of a can.   Let's get to it.

A - Very light opaque yellow colored.  I had a non existent head although I have read reviews that have reported a 2 finger head.   Too each his own, maybe it has something to do with me pouring out of a can.

S - Really isn't much of a scent to this beer.   Some mild grain, that is about it.   Not pleasant, but not a turn off.  It's just... there.  The more I smell it the more I smell some faint spices also.

T - Similar to how it smells.  It's a real soft, mild taste.  It's lacking a real punch, although it's not bad.   Some very light sour grain.    Also faint citrus taste is present.  On the finish there is some metallic bitterness but not enough to really make any kind of impact in the taste.   It might even be a bit of a stretch to say it has any real metallic taste.   I'm very disappointed on the taste of this beer because I was hoping for so much more.   It just seems to be weak and lacking all over.

M - Very light bodied with medium carbonation.   Very similar to your standard macro beer.

D - Very easy to drink a bunch of them based on how smooth it is.   But with a lack of taste, it really doesn't leave me wanting more.

Grade:  One thumb down.  Not a bad beer, but it wasn't something that I would jump at to drink again.

Bell's Oberon Ale

I'm not sure If I've ever been more excited to try a beer before.  I have been waiting literally nearly a year to try this beer.  Since they don't sell it in Western New York I thought I would be waiting damn near forever.  I recently have moved down to Orlando Florida, more specifically Lake Buena Vista.  Yes, that's where Disney World is.  I'm working for Disney World right now.  But, to my surprise I was walking about a local grocery store earlier and saw it!  I saw Bells Oberon Ale, and I damn near almost broke the bottles because I was so quick to throw the 6 pack in the cart.  I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning getting that toy I've waited for, for so long.
Bell's Brewery lists Oberon Ale as an American wheat ale brewed with Saaz hops. Spicy and fruity, Oberon is the color and scent of a sunny afternoon.  Should be an easy going beer with a modest 5.8% ABV.

Time to try the beer, and I'm praying I'm not disappointed because my expectations are absolutely through the roof.

A:  Hazy golden body topped with a whispy white minuscule head. 

S:  Floral and citrus hops mixed with bread malts.  Not very much to write about with appearance or scent.  Very straightforward.

T:  Tangy wheat with a small bit of vanilla on the front. Some fruity spices and light herbal hop flavor in the middle. The finish is bread malts with some coriander.

M:  Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

D:  I put the beer down in about 10-15 seconds.  Once I got my first taste, I couldn't stop drinking it.  Nectar of the gods sums this up perfectly.  Mix the PERFECT taste with a decent ABV and you have a session brew.

Grade:  A+ | Two Thumbs Up | 100  - - - Go get this beer however you can.

Red Brick Blonde

*Note the beer is actually lighter colored than this picture shows.
I've never had a beer from Red Brick before, nor have I ever had a blonde ale. So this is totally going to be something new for me. To tell you the truth, I don't even know what to expect from a blonde ale. Based on a little bit of research Red Brick is from Georgia and they generally put out slightly above average beers, and more importantly the blonde ale is considered one of their best beers. I'm excited to try it.

According to the Red Brick website which can be found here.

Red Brick Blonde is an American-style blonde or golden ale with a light body and a fresh malt flavor. Mild hops and a clean finish make Red Brick Blonde a great introductory beer for American lager dirnkers interested in exploring craft brewering. Pale gold in color, our crisp, well balanced Red Brick Blonde is an ideal thirst-quencher during the hot weather months and an excellent companion for game day snacks.

Kudos to the website for being pretty cool and also having Smashing Pumpkins playing.

I'll be the judge of the beer though, since that's what actually matters.

A - Clear golden yellow with a nice pure white head that clings to the side of the glass nicely. Based on the head, the beer has a thick look to it. Definitely not a watery head, it's got some substance to it.

S - Surprisingly it has a very grainy smell to it, with some faint lemon hops. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it also smells kind of musky, like wet grass.

T - Grassy hops dominate the taste. Something I definitely didn't expect at all. Normally I don't like hoppy beers, but this has a good taste to go along with the hops. I thought it would have a lemon taste to it based on the scent, but it doesn't which kind of disappointed me. Pretty dry finish on this beer. To sum it up, grainy with a grassy hop taste that gives away to a dry finish that lacks any real aftertaste. It comes and goes quickly.

M - Low to medium bodied with also low carbonation. Pretty light and refreshing beer.

D - I don't have a huge problem with the flavor and this beer goes down very easy. It's definitely got a very nice drinkability based on taste, and pair that with a rather low ABV (5.2) and you have yourself a pretty good sessionable beer.

Grade - Two Thumbs up for this beer. No real complaints from me. I wish it had a little more complex taste to it. Something tells me most blonde ales don't taste like this though, so I'll have to try a different one soon.


Thanks to my friend Amos for this beer. 

Orange Blossom Cream Ale

I've never even heard of this beer, nor of the brewery which is Buffalo Bill's Brewery.  I'm not sure why I even purchased this beer, but sometimes the best things in life happen unexpectedly.

After doing a little research, it has a very average score on BeerAdvocate, a C+, which has already lowered my expectations.  Although it's labeled as a Cream Ale, it's officially listed as a Fruit / Vegetable beer which is a little weird.  I'm guessing it's really heavy on citrus aroma and taste.  It's also a beer best consumed during the winter months.  I guess I'm failing all over with this one already.

Based on the simplicity of the bottle, I figured this was a pretty low-key brewery which is why I've never heard of it.  Turns out, they are from California which probably attributes to them being rather unknown in the Western New York area.
I wish I could tell you a little about their brewery, but their website won't load past the splash screen for me.  Maybe someone else will have a little better luck.

Buffalo Bill's Brewery

On to the review.

A - The color of the beer isn't a huge shocker.  Orange tinted straw colored.  Poured a very small head that was gone in absolutely no time.   All that is left are some bubbles rising to the top.  This beer kind of looks like a watered down orange juice.

S -  Very strong orange peel and almost ginger-like scent coming from the beer mixed with some bitter hops.  I don't find the scent to be rather pleasant even though I really enjoy oranges.

T -  Very surprising taste, sort of.  Obviously it's got a strong base of orange.  Very full orange taste that practically dominates the beer.  Almost tastes how it looks, like orange juice.  There's also an adjunct grain taste present, which I don't dislike paired with this beer.  It actually flows together nicely.  The finish is full of sweet floral hops.

M -  Very light bodied, comparable to something like Coors Light.    Despite the amount of bubbles at the beginning it has a very low carbonated taste.

D -  I have a hard time believing this is a "winter" beer.  I totally see this is a summer beer because it's highly refreshing, and due to it being slightly watery and only a 5.2% ABV it's very drinkable.

Grade - I'd give this beer two thumbs up.  I guess this reinforces the whole, "You can't judge a book by it's cover....and smell." line.  The appearance and smell did absolutely nothing, so I was set up for a big let down.  The taste was good!  The awesome part is, I grabbed this from consumers out of their broken case rack, and paid only $1.29.  Can't beat that.
Overall though, this beer is pretty much orange juice for grown-ups.

Blue Moon Grand Cru

This was a beer that was released in limited quantities in December of 2009 to help celebrate the blue moon that was going to occur that month.
In Belgium, a Grand Cru is typically a rich, bold beer brewed to celebrate the holiday season or another special event. Following the traditional Belgian style, Blue Moon Grand Cru -- inspired by Blue Moon Belgian White -- is brewed with small-batch care, while providing a unique twist on the classic Grand Cru.

An artfully crafted, full-bodied 8.2 percent ABV beer, Blue Moon Grand Cru has rich, creamy notes, with subtle hints of orange peel and coriander, and delivers a warm, spicy finish.

I'm expecting it to taste just like regular Blue Moon with a bite of alcohol to it.

A - Very cloudy and pale yellow color. Lots of junk floating around in the beer. Very high visible carbonation. Left a fairly large head in my Duvel glass, but the glass is prone to doing that with nearly every beer.

S - Strong orange rind smell mixed with slight alcohol. I was hoping for a bit more complex scent, but orange and alcohol sums this up pretty much.

T - Orange peel notes are the first taste to hit, but they fade away very quickly because the actual taste of orange is pretty underwhelming. Coriander and bitter hops follow the orange which gives way to a warming alcohol sensation which is a little offputting for me. It's a clean finish that leaves barely any aftertaste. The orange taste gets a little more bitter and sour the more you drink.

M - Based on the high amount of bubbles, I thought it would have a bit more of a carbonated taste than it did. It was medium bodied and moderately carbonated. Pretty smooth mouthfeel.

D - Based on the taste alone it's drinkability isn't as high as you'd think because I feel the taste alone is poor. Mix that in with the high alcohol and you don't have a very good drinkability.

Final Grade: Two Thumbs Down

I probably won't finish this bomber, and the sad part about it is, I have another one. I got this beer for $5 BOGO.