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)

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