Santa Fe Prickly Pear Hefe-Weizen

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled at 1702; April 2009
This arrives from the tap with a pinkish, fake-red colored beer that is fairly hazy. This has a slight carbonation to it that barely supports a wispy head. The aroma has a certain tartness to it, a slight vegetal note that is a signature of prickly pear (this is fairly soft though). As the beer warms up a bit some tropical fruit notes start to come out as well as some strawberry aromatics. The beer really needs to warm up before the aroma can become very expressive.

The beer is quite dry tasting, has a light tartness, solid berry fruit notes as well as a light water melon flavor. This has a light fruitiness to it overall, and this is joined by a touch of wheat flavor that is quite subtle. While the fruit is light, it is the most noticeable flavor component. The finish has a carbonic bite to it, a touch of hop bitterness and a vegetal prickly-pear note. As the beer warms up a touch of grassy grain character becomes noticeable. The beer is nice and light and does have a certain refreshing quality to it.

I like that this beer misses most of the off / overwhelming flavors that can be in prickly-pear at times, but it is pretty bland overall and certainly doesn’t have any traditional Hefeweizen flavors to it (likely just an American yeast was used here).

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

Sampled on tap at 1702 on 4/23/2009. This fruit beer pours a medium purplish orange gold color from the tap. Small sized white foamy head with good retention. The aroma is fruity and sweet, with a lot of tropical fruit flavors. A medium bodied fruit beer. The malts are fruity and sweet. Lots of pear and watermelon rind flavors. The hops are floral. Nice balance on the fruit. It’s a little sweet, with a touch of banana and clove. Nice carbonation. Interesting beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.