Bottle 65 cl. Courtesy of fiulijn. Pours amber with a slight haze and a small off-white head. Sweet caramel nose with some intense hops up there. Very rich body, loads of fruit and caramel, again a rather intense herbal hoppiness. Not overly bitter though. 200912

2016-02-05, blind tasting at Eugene’s, bottle, vintage 2014, 7-3-7-3-15=35
Cloudy amber color, dull with no head. Some malt aroma. Sweet but balanced by different kinds of malt, a bit of rye spiciness, nice fruity touch from the hop.
Wisely made, very nice.

2012-06-28, draught at the brewpub, 6-4-7-4-13=34
Hazy amber color; small head. Aroma of alcohol and overripe fruits. Strong body; sweet flavor, malt and some overripe fruits, typical of wheat wines; the bitterness is strong and carries some qualities, this being the only good point about this beer; the final is at least pleasant, with some hop resins.
Never been a big fan of wheat wines, this one doesn’t convince me more than the others.

bouteille, merci à Ibrew2or3. cuvée 2009. cuivre, blanche, malt et sucre de cane, caramel au beurre, douce au palais, aspect collant au palais, blé, reste un peu trop sur le coté doux et sirop, un finit avec de vagues éléments d’agrumes

++++ RE-RATE 11-May-09 ++++
Vertical of the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Vintages at the brewery during Seattle Beer week 2009. Each pour was approximately 5 ounces, served in snifters.

Appearance:
All samples poured mostly clear.
2004 - Lighter golden yellow, mostly clear no head. 3
2005 - Darkest of the five, brown orange with no head. This was the clearest of the samples. 4
2006 - Light in color, like the 2004, with golden only a few soapy bubbles. 3
2007 - golden copped, few loose off white bubbles. 4
2008 - Pour is brown copper with great settling and a pretty one inch off white head. This is the only sample that had noticeable lacing. 4

Aroma:
2004 - Grassy, wheaty, nice smooth mild honey sweetness. Some floral yeastiness near the back. No alcohol whatsoever. This had the nicest nose of the five. 8
2005 - Grassy, sharper vegetal, almost green pepper nose. Sweetness is more caramel in vthis one. Nice, though not as rounded as the 04. 6
2006 - Of the five samples, this had the faintest nose. Some very light honey, touch of the grassy yeastiness - really no wheat barley. 5
2007 - Honey sweetness, resin pine bitterness - much more expressive than older versions. Alcohol poking through near the back. 7
2008 - Grassy, bitter resin, clove honey sweetness, toasted wheat malt - quite a bit going on but not real refined. Almost an artificial sweetener smell to it, kinda weird. Alcohol present. 6

Taste:
2004 - Caramel honey malty sweetness, floral grassy yeastiness. Alcohol heat late in the long aftertaste. 8
2005 - Big, immediate, honey toffee caramel maltiness, followed closely by the vegetal clove grassiness of the yeast. This one hid the heat better than the 04 but came across pretty jagged. 7
2006 - Honey sweetness, followed by bright pineapple fruitiness, then the malt wheat. Not much of the grassy earthy yeastiness of 04 and 05. Decent blast of alcohol in the longish finish. 6
2007 - Caramel honey sharp sweetness, citrus - orange - bitterness, pine resin, grassy wheat yeastiness. Flavors layered on top of each other - dense tasting. Alcohol in the finish. 7
2008 - Sweet caramel and toffee to start, followed by grassy wheat and cloves. Almost a vegetable taste buried in there somewhere. Despite being the youngest, I thought only the 2004 covered the heat better. 7

Palate:
2004 - Medium, mouth coating. Sweetness is clean. Alcohol comes along late, doesn’t detract much at all. 4
2005 - Medium, bright, sweetness that cloys a bit on the tongue. 3
2006 - Thinner than the 04 and 05, watery almost in the finish, alcohol revealed pretty early - with the sweetness sort of on its own to battle it. 3
2007 - Medium, more so than 06 - sharpness is prickling, long hot finish. 3
2008 - Medium, sweetness is cut by the resin grassiness - dry earthy finish. Alcohol heat more subdued than 07 06 and 05. 4

Overall:
2004 - Nice, refined - more integrated than the others, certainly as it relates to the alcohol. 16
2005 - A bit muddled. 13
2006 - Thin and messy 12.
2007 - Back on track, expressive and interesting. 15
2008 - This will probably age into something pretty special. As it is, complex and interesting - though jagged and unrefined at this age. 14

Final Tally:
2004 - 8,3,8,4,16 - 3.9
2005 - 6,4,6,3,13 - 3.2
2006 - 5,3,6,3,12 - 2.9
2007 - 7,4,7,3,15 - 3.6
2008 - 6,4,7,4,14 - 3.5

++++ ORIGINAL RATING 14-JUL-08 ++++
22 oz bottle courtesy of bvc. 2008 Vintage. Pour is golden orange, hazed. Very thin white head. Aroma of full, rounded orange citrus. Some wheatiness lies behind behind the fruit. The wheat intertwines with full biscuit caramel malt nicely. Taste is the rounded orange citrus with the caramelly maltiness. Alcohol is pretty well muted, though this is very warming. Smooth palate, easy to drink. Thanks for this one Brandon. (8,4,7,4,15 - 3.8)

A hazy orange beer with a thin beige head. The aroma is sweet alcoholic combined with notes of grass, apricots, and malt. The flavor is rather acidic malty to start off, but very soon a powerful hop note mixes in, which is acompanied by citrus and alcohol, which grows in strength towards the end, which is dry and bitter. The alcohol bites in the tongue. I don’t pick up much wheat, but maybe the acidic note is from the wheat.

Draught; 2005 Vintage Hazy orange, no head. Good hoppy nose, strange on a wheat beer, obvious USA hops. Extremely hoppy taste, nearly liqueurish but not vinous. Dry grapelike hops, top Westcoast, but wheatcharacter is lost. Very aggressive MF and alcohol. Surprising for a 50% wheat malt, this has precious little wheat characteristics.

Hazy amber colour. Rich, chewy malt aroma with light fruits and a hint of alcohol. Not very wheaty...just barleywinish. Very malt, thick and alcoholic body...somewhat simplistic with mainly malt and alcohol. Malts are accented towards earthiness with hints of chocolate and bread crust.