3.5
AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
There
are a lot of traditional styles I’d assume would be foolproof,
especially at the commercial level. Witbier being a good example of one.
And it’s not that Weyerbacher Wit isn’t a good beer – it’s a fine beer –
it’s just that it should be better than simply okay.
I poured a 12oz bottle into a tulip glass. It was bottled on 4/8/15 and cost $2.50 ($0.21 per ounce). Appearance: Pale shade of light orange/gold with a (not surprisingly) very hazy body. No visible carbonation. Pours to a small, white, soapy head which nearly completely dissipates and leaves no lacing.
Smell: Very orange-forward nose with orangepeel being the most predominate scent. A touch of banana candy. Although it is quite mild overall.
Taste: The palette to this beer is pretty much exactly what I want and expect in a witbier: a sweet orange flavor; light zesty sensation and a clean, dry finish. The label mentions that the beer is made with coriander, orangepeel, grains of paradise and star anise, yet this is not what I would consider an especially spicy brew (or a spicy brew at all, for that matter). It’s actually remarkable close to Blue Moon or Shock Top in that it’s not just mild – but overtly so. Well, there definitely is a bit of a bite on the finish, and there are absolutely no off-flavors or obvious flaws. This just seems like a good beer trapped in the body of an average one. I will say it makes for a good starter witbier (and certainly a better choice than those two macros).
Drinkability: A beer like Weyerbacher Wit you drink for its refreshing nature, and in that aspect it works quite well. At only 4.6% ABV it’s easy to consider it a session beer; especially considering the light body, the way it quenches the thirst and the fact it leaves hardly any aftertaste. On the other hand, the mouthfeel is not crisp and effervescent – rather, a little dull. This is the kind of beer that would work much better out of a can than a bottle.
Score: 6/10
