Episode 10: The “White” Ales

This week we discussed:

We reviewed:

Episode Notes:

Bell’s Winter White Ale

Review

Appearance: A pleasant, dusty golden color. Very little head on the pour, even less retention. Visible if light carbonation. Little to no discernable lace left behind.
Smell: Smells very yeasty, with abundant notes of citrus and additional accents of spice. A little bit of flat sweet esters as the beer opens up.
Taste: Tastes very much like it smells, but with a slight sourness coming out in the taste along with the predominant yeast, and banana taking the lead as the primary ester flavor. The spice and citrus are most apparent in the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied, more viscous than expected and more efforvescent than expected, being noticeable right to the point of pre-empting the taste. Does the brew justice.
Drinkability: It’s a rich beer, if not terribly high in gravity. Given that, it’s light enough that a few bottles would probably go down pretty easily.

Score (out of 5)
Brian: 3.25
Devon: 3.25

Review

Appearance: Translucent amber, excellent head after pour, a little less head retention than desirable. Not a lot of visible carbonation.
Smell: Notes of grain, yeast, in equal measure. The wheat aspect of the beer becomes apparent here right away. An undercurrent of booziness. There is a smell of carmalized ester sweetness…
Taste: Nice wheat grain taste without being overly rich. The sweetness from malt is in evidence, and perhaps the most prominent feature, but in addition there is some non-fruity ester sweetness, and even the alcohol seems a little sweet.
Mouthfeel: Nice mouthfeel – both a little bit sticky and simultaneously efforvescent. Medium bodied and with a slight oiliness on the backside.
Drinkability: Pretty drinkable. This is a heady beer, again without being high gravity. I have, in the past, sessioned this for hours. I look forward to the next time.

Score (out of 5)
Brian: 3.75
Devon: 3.75