Review Date 4/22/2010
Try?
Re-buy?
Here it is barely spring, and I'm already drinking a summer beer. Not to worry, though, the fine folks at Portsmouth, New Hampshire's Smuttynose Brewing Company haven't jumped the gun this year. Rather, I'm drinking a bottle I've had stashed away in my DBR (Dedicated Beer Refrigerator) since last September. The days, after all, are starting to warm finally, and I'm really craving wheat beers these days.
Especially after an afternoon jog or perhaps mowing the lawn, when nothing is so quite refreshing to me as a wheat beer. It could be a crisp, refreshing filtered wheat beer, a more substantial but equally satisfying German-style hefeweizen (pale or dark), or even a spicy Belgian wit. Or maybe, just maybe, I'll quench my ravenous thirst with something a little different.
Like a glass of Smuttynose Summer Weizen Ale. This is a wheat beer that's just a bit different. It's brewed with Belgian Wit yeast, then spiced with chamomile for a light refreshing taste. It's almost like a beery herb tea when you think about it, with a bit of alcohol (5.5% by volume).
Smuttynose Summer Weizen Ale pours to a cloudy yellow color with a thick rocky head formation and a spicy floral nose. The beer is bottle conditioned, so I swirl the yeast around in the bottom and decant into my glass. The palate is tart from the wheat but spicy as well, very bright and refreshing with a zesty lemony character.
The chamomile is very much present too, adding a hint of vanilla and a soothing floral character. The beer finishes tart but also slightly bitter, and because of this it's dangerously drinkable. It also hits the spot rather well on a warm day, and a glass after a stroll on a beautiful 80 degree afternoon today was a perfect refresher.
A bit pricey here in the Atlanta area at $9.99 a six-pack, though I suspect it might sell for less on it's home turf in New England. Available May through August, so be ready for it when it hits the shelves.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
