Plank Hefeweizen

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours a slightly hazy, dark copper color with a one to two finger, wheat colored head, low retention, and little or no lacing. Aromas of banana, fresh bread, clove, pepper and sea salt. The taste is Semisweet with more toffee or raisin flavor, otherwise following the nose. Solid bitterness is a bit overbalances the relative light, subtle flavors. the mouthfeel is medium bodied with light effervescence.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

It pours a peach-apricot color with thick & dimpled white head and copious lace. Fresh aroma of wheat malts, light hops, some lemon - it smells like a pilsner. The mouthfeel is smooth, yet thin. Flavors of wheat, light hops, lemon/citrus, some bitterness, and mild spice. Had better ..

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours into my 25cl tulip glass with a frothy, initially three-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is an amber hue that shows an orangish, copper tint when held up to the light. The aroma has a characteristically, expressive, spicy clove note to it, plus a nice grassy grain note, some crushed malt aromatics and a soft fruitiness made up of faint berry notes and a touch of green apple. There even seems to be a slight butter-like component here that is very faint, but somehow doesn't seem to be diacetyl.

Quite light bodied with a fizzy, well carbonated texture. The beer tastes most noticeably of spicy clove throughout the flavor profile; the clove phenols even manage to provide a touch of a bite to the finish along with a hop bitterness. The malt somehow seems a bit tired; grassy grain flavors, muddy bread flavors and a bright wheat tartness provide the bulk of the balance to the clove spiciness. The beer can seem a bit thin at times for a Hefeweizen; one usually expects a certain creamy, malt driven texture from the best examples of the style, which this seems to be lacking.

Not a bad beer, just not the world class Hefeweizen I was hoping for. Without a bottle date I am not sure how old this is, but I'll definitely be on the look out for fresher bottles of this.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Cloudy amber, although the yeast had settled, so it took a little work to stir it up. The aroma has a bit too much phenolic character. Good wheatiness, fairly tart in the finish. The classic yeasty flavors and aromas are milder than the best hefeweizens.