Showing posts with label witbier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label witbier. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2016

Phillips Scarfface Cranberry Orange Wit


This beer is certainly a front runner for best label and wittiest name of the year. Although it might not be the most original; anyone remember the blood orange wit? Still, it's a tasty little glassful.
Scarfface = 6/10

Orange is the most vaporous aroma, perhaps Orange Crush or Orangina.  Naturally there is a wheat creaminess too. The taste is pretty straight forward; creamy wheat, sweet oranges and a light lingering of tart oranges.  Not sure where the cranberries went?

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content 0 5%
Value +1
Appearance +1

Glassware: Put it in a clean pint glass to keep Chapman happy. If you have an octagon wit glass you could use that, but that is a bit obsessive.

Food Pairings: Peking Duck or duck à l'orange. The tart orange flavours would bridge nicely with the duck and the effervescence would help lift the fat from the palate. Bird lovers can substitute braised bean curd.

Cellar: Nope

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Waveform Wit by Category 12

Honestly these kids can do no wrong. Right on the heels of their Insubordinate session IPA, we have another tasty beer. This time it is a truly summer release, a witbier. For those of you, like me, who are into beer styles a witbier ticks the BJCP 16A style box. I'm still going with the 2008 version. Most witbiers are clones or slight variants of the definitive style Hoegaarden. There are few things better than a fresh Hoegaarden on a warm day, no orange slice for me thank you. This style has a few essential flavour components. It should be sweet, but not excessive. There should be some tartness from the wheat malt and aromatic yeast. It should contain some subtle spiciness and citrus notes. The classic choices are coriander and orange peel. The Waveform hits most of these points, with a major twist.

Waveform Wit = 8/10


The Waveform starts off filling out most of the witbier checkboxes: aromatic wheat, vague spiciness and citrus. But very quickly things go awry. The wheat aroma and flavour is a little mushy, but this is easily overlooked. Do I taste fresh grapefruit flesh that is not hop derived? Who replaced coriander with warming cardamom? I need to reacquaint myself with this spice. Notes of brown bananas fills out the flavour package just nicely. A tasty twist of a classic style.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content 0 5.3%
Value +1
Appearance +1

Glassware: A wit must be served in a heavy, hexagonal jam jar. So long as it is clean. If there is an orange slice floating in it, either fling it away or eat it. The only floaties I want in my beer are undissolved proteins or yeast flakes.

Food Pairings: Only seafood will do. I shall drink one of these with my next sushi order. Right after I have a spicy arugula salad with fresh goat cheese and capers

Cellar: Only if your cellar is on the patio and it is removed once cold.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Beer and Cheese: L'Hercule de Charlevoix and White Bark by Driftwood

Remember resolution #1 and #6? This post combines them both. Another resolution that I didn't share was that I plan to try a new cheese every week. This is mainly to explore the possibilities of beer and cheese pairings. My knowledge of cheese is very limited; there will certainly be some mistakes. At
least on the cheese side; feel free to correct me.

The first cheese that caught my eye was the L'Hercule de Charlevoix. It is a unpasteurized cheese made with Jersey cow milk. This hard cheese is brine washed and similar in flavour to alpine cheeses like Gruyere. I will not be providing too much information about the cheese mainly because of my lack of knowledge. An alpine cheese originates from the Alps mountain range. Animals that graze there consume lush grasses, flowers and herbs. These flavours are transferred into the cheese and can vary depending on season and location. Quebec does not really contain any high mountain ranges, but the processing of the L'Hercule and the milk selected produces a similar flavour.

So what does this cheese taste like? The initial aroma was that of feet and funk. Luckily, this did not transfer over into the semihard texture of the cheese. It was rather mild with a slight nutty, fruitness. The ending was a calm tartness. Perhaps a good pairing for this beer would be an equally calm and fruity beer. Swan's Arctic ale/Kolsch came to mind. A blonde ale or a calm pilsner would do nicely also. A pale ale or hoppy saison would have overpowered this cheese. I planned to head downtown to pick up a bottle of Andrew's Arctic Ale, which would have been perfect. The lazy factor kicked in, so another local favourite was chosen: Driftwood's White Bark witbeir. I thought the creamy wheat, orange peel and slight spiciness would compliment the flavours in this cheese. Sadly, this did not work out too well. The White Bark was spicier than I remembered, so it rather overpowered this delicate cheese. It wasn't bad, just not optimal. This beer would have been better with something a tad more robust, like an Emmental or young goat cheese.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

3 Weeds (Lighthouse)


Summer is approaching so bring on the witbiers. Phillips was their usual trio around, Vancouver Island has a pair, hopefully Swan's Tessier's wit will be out soon and now one is available from Lighthouse. Honestly, how the hell can VIB Beachcomber not win a gold medal at the 2012 CBA is beyond my comprehension. Maybe for the same reason a hoppy pale ale won a medal in the amber lager category. My ranting will end now so we can begin our - brief - lesson.  Witbier means 'white beer'. The name is derived from its appearance. It usually looks white from the use of pale malts and wheat with suspended yeast. The addition of spices is also appropriate with this style. Expect to find tastes of coriander, orange peel, ginger and pepper in your glass.


3 Weeds (Lighthouse) = 8/10


Weedy aroma is equal parts yeasty spice, coriander and wheat. The creaminess hides the alcohol well until the warming end appears. The brew can be as simple or complex as you desire. Without too much thought the flavours of creamy of wheat, vague spices and ginger readily appear. If you wish to delve deeper, tastes of coriander, pepper, candied ginger, wheaties and bread can be noticed. A brew destined for patios everywhere.

Glassware: A tulip would work well. If you have a hexagonal Hoegaarden glass, use it now.

Food Pairings: Stick to the lighter but spiced stuff: chick pea curry, spiced tuna salad, poutine (yes Dave, poutine), arugula salads 

Taste +4
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 7.5%
Value +1
Appearance +1 (good description of beer flavour)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Belgian White (Lighthouse)

This is the yang to Lighthouse's previous yin Belgian Black brew. The Belgian White is a ramped up imperial witbier. Dean from Lighthouse describes it best, "Belgian White is different. We took the classic wit and gave it a good old west coast make-over: bigger and lots more hops! What I love about this beer though is that the wit characters are still there; coriander, clove, bitter peel, bready wheat and almond notes. Spices up front, classy soft malt mid palate and a dry, lingering bitter finish." Sounds like a good description but what did the beer prick think?

Belgian White (Lighthouse) = 9/10

The first first thing you notice, obviously, is the nose. This would be the perfect beer to drink while playing Diablo 3, it smells a bit like fire and brimstone. Lots of sulfur, coriander, oat straw, hot and dry spices leap from the glass. You better like it because these aromas never leave; after a while they morph into a very inviting scent.  Full and spicy sips reveal a cornucopia of flavours. First there are the grains: oatcakes, cream of wheat, marzipan and fresh bread. Next you must sort through the spices; coriander is king closely followed by cloves and maybe a little cinnamon. To make matters worse, you must contend with the southern hops and fruitiness from the yeast. You can pick out various tropicals, mangoes, jackfruit, slight lemon and other citrus fruits. Nothing is overpowering. It just slides down the throat, giving the uvula a crosscheck on the way past. Very complicated, it might take a few bombers to sort it all out.


Taste +5
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content +1 7.5%ABV
Value +1
Appearance +1 Great art by Michelle Landry again

Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy New Beer


This is the first Vancouver Island beers drank in 2011. I mentioned previously that I intend to try every beer produced on our island. Spinnakers Happy New Beer is a Belgian witbier. Classic examples include Hoegaarden and Allagash white. This style usually has a high percentage of wheat and some added spices: coriander and orange peel are common. The kicker with this one is most of the ingredients were grown on the island: Mike Doehnel’s malted wheat & barley from the Saanich Peninsula and Saanich grown coriander.

Happy New Beer = 3/10
Ratebeer 3.2 (1 rating - thanks CapFlu)
Beer Advocate n/a

I was surprised by the forward nose: light spices, wheat, coriander and lemon. This must have been a poorly sealed bottle because there was no carbonation. These beers are usually very bubbly. The taste made up for it. There was ample yeast, lemon bread, light spices but it was a little lifeless. I'm sure it was the lack of carbonation because the flavours really grew on you. It all just faded away too quickly but left a touch of wheat and lemon. I would have picked this as a summer release and not a winter beer.

Taste +3
Aftertaste +1
Alcohol Content -1 4.5%
Value 0
Appearance 0 (average label art)

Estrella Damm Inedit
Double Wit (Great Divide)
Celis White

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Double Wit by Great Divide

Ratebeer 3.43 90th percentile
Beer Advocate B+


Taste +5
  • nose: wheat, spicy, yeast and lemon citrus
  • very assertive yeast blast lots of citrus fruits
  • long upfront yeast and ample carbonation
  • slightly acidic but not very astringent
Aftertaste +1
  • alcohol warmth with yeast, citrus tartness that faded too quickly
Alcohol Content +1 8.1%

Value +1

This a great strong wit. Certainly puts Hoegaarden to shame.

Ingame Enhancement +1

I don't care but it deserves the extra point.

Overall 9/10

Whoever says witbiers are bland and tasteless need to step away from the Rickard's White and grab one of these.

Red Racer White Ale
Estrella Damm Inedit

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Red Racer White Ale


Red Racer White Ale
Wheat/Witbier Ale

Ratebeer 2.97 37th percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +2

Nothing really shocking in the nose: wheat, grass, lemon and orange spice. The taste is right with a slight lemon/orange citrus hints. There is also the tang of yeast/wheat but it just seems so uninspired.

Aftertaste 0

It was dry and clean with the simplest of yeast and citrus tang.

Alcohol Content 0 5%

Value 0

The wife liked it.

Ingame Enhancement 0

Nope.

Overall 2/10

It was a mass appeal Belgian wit beer. All the standard flavours were there: wheat, orange, lemon and yeast. It was just a little lack-luster for a beer snob like me.

Red Racer Classic Pale Ale
Estrella Damm Inedit

Allagash White

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Estrella Damm Inedit


Estrella Damm Inedit
Belgian Witbier

Ratebeer 3.12/5 57th percentile
Beer Advocate B-


Taste +3

This is new to me, I'm used to seeing that cheap red Estrella can. It pours out a glorious light wheat aroma with added yeast and lemon grass. With every sip the crisp flavours of wheat, lemon and orange peel leave a greater impression than the sip before. There is a slight spiciness that comes at the end.

Aftertaste 0

The ending is clean and dry with only the slightest of citrus bite.

Alcohol Content -1 4.7%

This is a lightweight beer that does not lack taste.

Value +1
This has a great bottle presentation and not a demanding flavour. You could bring this to a dinner part and turn some heads and palates.

Ingame Enhancement +1

You could fire this entire bottle away and still hold your hand steady.

Overall 4/10

Despite the low score this was a good witbier. It was light, lemony with just enough tartness. The taste is similar to Hoegaarden, only better.

Estralla, Ozujsko and DAB, everyone likes a threesome

Schneider Weisse
White Bark Wheat Ale and a Shameless Plug