White (2012 - 2013)

750ml bottle, blue label. Pours a hazy straw led with some cloudy white head. Nose of grass, coriander, lemon peel, yeast, otherwise clean. Sweet, malty, grassy, light lemon, light bread, some pepper. Light, dry finish. Standard.

I’ve been apprehensive about trying this since they jacked up the abv with the recipe change and, IMO, their products tend to suffer when they do this - for example, the Tropic King suffered a significant decline when it went from 7% to 8% (I really need to Rerate that beer) - anyway - this one pours awfully fizzy - looks over carbonated - head dissipates almost completely, despite the constant effervescing on the surface of the beer - nose is quite sweet, with soft wheat malt notes, strong lemon, ginger and other spices, a bit of a mineral note underneath - definitely over carbonated - lots of abrasive bubbles filling the mouth - flavor is medium dry - a lot of tangy citrus flavors - chamomile is still pretty evident, like the original - some ginger and peppery spice on the tail end - alcohol is far too evident in the finish - not at all refreshing, as the original was - some redeeming qualities, but overall it is a bit harsh on the palate - yup, it is as I feared - they should have stuck with the original recipe.

Bottle @ home. This year’s version was made with lemon peel instead of grapefruit peel and had a bigger abv (6.8% abv per the bottle compared to 6.0% last year). Somewhat spicy, fairly lemon citrusy forward, sweet, a touch peppery aroma. Nice, sweet malty flavor with a lemon citrusy and peppery notes. It has a nice flavor with a more citrus forward element that I remember last year’s version having. Unfortunately, the beauty of a witbier is being thirst quenching and easy to drink during the hot weather. This is a little more intense due to the abv and not nearly as easy to drink as I think it should be for its style. A bit of a shame that they increased the abv, but it’s tasty to drink nonetheless.