Sour Blonde Wheat Ale Tasting

Sour Blonde Wheat Ale

Brewed the Sour Wheat Ale a little over two months ago, and it should be ready for a tasting by now. This brew clocks at 4.5% ABV, and unlike the Flanders Red Ale that I fermented with this same yeast concoction, this beer never formed a pellicle; however, it was not nearly exposed to as much oxygen nor did it have a lot of time. Before bottling, when I tasted it out of the fermenter, I was very surprised at how sour it got in such a short amount of time. I also couldn't taste any of the coriander or orange.


Aroma: Clean citrus, esters and mildly sweet--almost like the smell of cotton candy. No funk or barnyard animals in this one. A bit of orange. No spice smell.

Appearance: Cloudy, as a wheat beer should be, and nice golden straw color. Head forms right away, but isn't thick and dissipates quickly. I'd chalk this up to another recipe that doesn't account for head retention but I know that the Berliner Weiss style, which this brew is loosely based upon, has a head that dissipates quickly. So I think it's just the style.

Flavor: Wheat-lactic goodness. A very pleasant, sharp, acid-tang that lasts awhile. A hint of sweetness. Some lingering esters, a bit of the orange, and maybe some spice, but really not much at all. Very clean taste. Cannot detect the alcohol over the tanginess. Lemons too. Maybe just a bit of that hay-like character that Bretts are notorious for. No hop bitterness, although I do wonder what a little more hops would do to this beer. The sour taste may be a little too aggressive for some people, but I like it.

Mouthfeel: Crisp body. Very drinkable. Dry and clean. It needs a little more carbonation for the style, I think, but that will certainly come with more time in the bottle. This beer lacks body. I've had some interesting Berliner Weisses before that had a creamy consistency, and I wonder how the hell the brewer got it that way--I think I'm thinking of the Southampton Berliner.

Overall: This is a great beer and isn't going to last too long around the house. The lack of body is definitely the weakest part. I feel like if there's going to be an aggressive wild-sour taste there needs to be some structure behind it. Otherwise it's like drinking wheat lemonade.  Then again, this may just be the style. Very refreshing beer.

Bugs, Bretts, and all kinds of stuff clinging onto the carboy glass of the Flanders Red Ale