Widmer Brothers W'08 Crimson Wheat

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

An amber appearance with a white head. The aroma contains some caramel, lemons, and bananas. The flavor is rather malty with some caramel, citrus, and bananas. The palate is rather thin. Overall I was not impressed with this.

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

Pours a nice reddish body with a off white cap, good carbonation. Smell was slightly sweet malts, tastes of carmel and malts kind of toasty, fades to mild hops as you finish. I drank this first one lukewarm and it was pretty good, very smooth. Cant wait to try my next one at proper temperature. This beer is worth a try.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Unique sweet aroma that carries over into the mouth; a very "red" taste with fair hoppiness and caramel tones. a delicious beer; so sad it will be gone in summer for good

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

Strangely this one doesn't have anything special about the smell. Pours a golden reddish color with some haze. Deep robust mouthfeel. Flavor is very good and smooth. Hoppy. Very good overall

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

Bottle Date January 2008; Sampled March 2008
Pours with a frothy, almost two-finger thick, full tan colored head that sits on top of a rich, red-hued beer. When held up to the light the beer shows a brilliantly clear color and a bit of a full copper note is added to the red. The aroma is a nice mix of malt and hop notes, both being equally noticeable and aromatic. Aromas of caramel malts combine with citrus and berry hop notes. A touch of sharper, almost herbal hop character intermingles with malt notes of toasted grain, bread crust aromatics, and a biscuit like malt character that is noticeable in the finish. The nose of this beer is very nicely balanced between malt and hop and each provides enough character for this beer to be quite interesting.

A sharp hop bite greets my tongue from the get go; the bitterness continues on through to the finish, but its impact seems to be lessened by a touch of sweet malt character that lingers on in the palate after a sip is done with. Caramelized malt sugars and toasted grain notes combine to provide a solid malt character to a brew that is really more dominated by hop notes (at least in the flavor department). Light enough to almost be a session beer, yet it does have a light, but medium fullness to it from the grain character. It also has a fair amount of carbonation (a typical American level) that provides a zippy prickle as it flows across the tongue. The hop flavors contribute spicy tangelo-zest notes, flavors of lychee, a touch of metallic hop character and noticeable pine and herbal / peppery notes through the middle that morphs into the hop bitterness of the finish.

A very nicely quaffable brew that is quite tasty. While certainly not earth shattering or even anything new, this is a beer that is just well constructed and tasty. Straight forward hop character and a bit of malt complexity combine cleanly in this beer to create a beer that I could easily drink for an evening. I have a feeling this beer is going to go down hill pretty quickly as it really relies heavily on the fresh hop character.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ