Tap at Max’s, Baltimore - pours like a hefe - turbid gold - foamy, lasting head - nose is lightly sour, lightly phenolic, lightly earthy, with a hint of smoke - quite tart and mildly acidic on the approach - this is followed by some mildly sweet wheat malt, moderate earthy smoke - finish is lightly bitter, with a healthy dose of phenols of the more earthy and funky variety - interesting brew - would like mor smoke.

On tap. Pours with a hazed golden hue with a lasting white head. Aromas are of lactic acid, yogurt, medium strawberry ester, lightly smokey, grainy, wheat, lasting esters. Flavors are tart, light smoke, bready malt, estery, lactic acid and strawberries. Mildly grainy. Medium bubbles, dry, light bodied, tart finish. I liked this a lot more than expected.

500 ml bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours hazy golden straw color with a nice 2 finger fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Some ok lacing on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lemon zest, herbal, toasted grain, bread, citrus peel, light smoke, and earthy spiciness. Some nice and balanced aromas with decent strength. Taste of lemon, orange peel, herbal, toasted grain, bread, wheat, floral, pear, and earthy spiciness. Lingering notes of lightly tart citrus, herbal, bread, toast, and earthy spiciness on the finish for a good bit. Great balance of malt flavors with the earthy spiciness; tartness is quite subtle overall. Medium carbonation and light-medium bodied; with a slightly slick and extremely smooth mouthfeel. Extremely easy to drink; with no alcohol presence as expected of 4%. Overall this is a really nice traditional style ale! Nice flavor balance and complexity; and extremely smooth. I really enjoyed this one.

Bottle from Half Time. Pours hazy orange gold with a creamy white head. Light floral and malt aromas. Near med body. Flavor is lightly spiced pear. And a little apple. Very pleasant to drink. Finishes barely sweet with some bitter as well.

Draft at Churchkey. Poured a slightly hazy golden color. Aroma is full of wheat, with notes of bready malts. Flavor has notes of lemon and spice, wheat. Touch sour, but not overwhelming. Nice ABV.

500 ml bottle at Hamiltons in San Diego. Pours a cloudy orange color with a large white head. A sweet banana nose, maybe light smoke. he flavor is a very sweet banana and yeasty note, light earthiness, no sourness, light and easy, earthy in the finish.

Draft. Amber beer with a cream head. Light smoke aroma. Light smoke and light tart flavor with light citrus and light wheat. Medium bodied. Light smoke and light tartness lingers with light citrus.

Cloudy yellow with a white head. Aroma has light tart fruits, wheat, lightly sweet, and a bit of smoke. Medium body. Not all that sour but there is a light sour finish. Mild smoke up front, wheat in the middle. Decent.

Bottle. Slightly sour and smoky wheat malt aroma. Cloudy golden yellow color with large white head. Moderate smoked meat and light wheat malt flavor. Very nice - really love this beer even if it is on the lighter side. Danke, Herr Professor Briem.

Binny’s LP 500ml ($7.50): Pours a cloud yellow with a quickly dissipating head. Aroma seems to be almost skunky at first, but then I realized that it was the sourness and the smokiness interacting. After a few more whiffs I was able to differentiate the smells and it made a lot more sense. I will start with the one thing that I don’t like: this beer does not have enough body. It is a tad watery. The flavours could have been magnified just a bit and things would have been great. There is a subtle sourness and an even more subtle smokiness. A surprising amount of hop taste is there. Beers like this serve to remind us that the newfound experimentalism of craft beer has some off-the-wall predecessors.