Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Nose: resinous and citrus hops, hint of vanilla and sweet biscuit malts. Cloudy pale copper body (chill haze?) topped with a thin head with little retention and a bit lace. Mouth is medium and a touch flat. Nose seemed to promise more mat then taste does which is OK in this style. On IPA scale bitterness is moderate but seems more bitter because the balance of bitterness to flavor in the hopping is, to my taste, is lacking in the flavor department. Finish is very clean. This is like drinking an IPA that is just bitter and alcoholic, very uncomplicated, its like they took the basic character of an IPA and added nothing unique to it. I have always been fond on Hat #9 but have been disappointed in their other efforts; its like they don't know what to do if it doesn't have apricot in it,

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

Very ale like in appearance and flavor, this lager pours a deep copper clear body with a thin off white head that has moderate retention and no lace. Ale like nose of carmel malt and spicy hops. Medium bodied mouth is nicely carbonated. Tastes like a copper or brown ale, lots of carmel, a touch sweet, finish is fairly dry. Not complex, no standard lager flavors, good session brew.

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

Well this beer is pretty tasty, much more flavorful as it warms, but its not attempting to play by the English Pale Ale rules......what to do? Nose is IPA with a bit more malty tones, but lots of citrus and pine notes. Appearance may be a touch too pale, a very light honey colored foggy (UFO) body with a decent head and very nice lace. Nice mouth, soft and slippery and medium bodied. Good carbonation level though perhaps a bit too tingly for its style. Flavor is so so when cold, mostly hops, but it really rounds out as it warms and achieves balance with strong malt flavors filling the palette. An almost chemical bitterness, present when drunk cold, is gone once it warms a bit. Finish is dry and clean.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Mild nose mostly carmel malts with a hint of spicy hops. Clear copper body is topped with a minimal, short lived head that leaves a tiny lace, the carbonation seems almost soda fizzy up the sides of the glass but does not seem to produce any additional head. Mouth is thin, watery and a touch flat in terms of carbonation. Taste is better then it looks. Lots of really nice malt, slightly sweet with hints of coffee and carmel and a touch of smoke, almost a light Rauchbier flavor. Minimal hop flavor balances the sweetness nicely with a bright high note in mid taste and their is a touch of grass towards the end and a slightly butter and vanilla finish. This is VERY drinkable, I wish the appearance was better attended to and the fizzy quality was dealt with.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

High quality lager nose, at first a lot of bread and yeast notes, with mellow malt following, and a touch of floral hops with a hint of grass. Nice clear golden body, minimal head and no lace. Mouth is a bit thin and a bit watery. Carbonation is a bit too fizzy. Flavor is primarily bitter, very unbalanced, no malt backbone to speak of, nasty chemical aftertaste. Sad imitation of a high quality pils. Far and away the worst Sam I have ever had. Feb 20 2011 rerate coming soon, have had this on tap and while not my favorite the above review is too harsh.

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

Strong nose of pine and lemon with malt present. Pours a large egg-white head with tight foam that leaves very good lace. The body is clear and the copper color is slightly pale, this is a very nice looking beer! Mouth is medium and a bit chewy, nice tingle, coats the mouth nicely and the IBU's really kick the rear outside of the tongue. This beer is quite bitter (in a very good way). Flavor , well there is a big mouth of grapefruit, some sweet fruit, some pine notes, a late-in-the-taste carmel flavor, with may be a hint of concord grape. A dry bitter finish follows the sweetness. Also a hint of nuttiness in the finish. Another excellent offering from Bkly, probably the best large brewer in the US.

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

Big wonderful nose on this one. Raisins, chocolate, caramel, touch of citrus. Frothy off-white head of decent size sits atop a dark copper, light brown body that it clear. Laces well. Mouth is medium and chewy, nicely slippery, excellent carbonation. Crystal malts dominate in the taste mixed with some nice hoppy citrus, and there follows an additional malt flavor with some hints of prune and pepper and rosemary. Finish is slightly sweet and fairly clean.

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

Well its pretty darn good! I've got a lot of sawdust up my nose just now but the pine and citrus nose is coming through anyway with a nice aroma of yeasty malt as well. Head is gorgeous; off white and very thick and eggwhite like in texture. This all sits over a (surprisingly foggy) medium copper body. (I can't decide if I should down grade for the fog, I suppose I should but I like a slightly fogged beer, even if it is filtered and I am not sure if this is unfiltered or chill haze.) Excellent lacing! The mouth is thick and chewy and very creamy, a great trick considering the ABV. Taste is good. Lots of hops but not super bitter (I guess maybe the torpedo device works!) A very solid slightly caramel malt backbone on this one, a bit of a surprise for an American IPA, a fair amount of biscuit, nice nuttiness, a hint of ripe tropical fruit, a fair amount of citrus and lots of pine, a dry slightly bitter finish, alcohol just a bit present and warming. Very well done, and the lace remains spectacular! ADDITIONAL NOTE: Having found one from the same 6 as a year ago I recommend drinking these fresh. The nose remains but the finish is much more bitter than the 70-80 IBU would hint at. Then again, maybe you'll like it that way. (no re-rate)11/14 getting this regularly on tap now. Even smoother and creamier.

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

Just a hint of banana in the nose and also a hint of smoke and sour orange and clove and pepper. Foggy gold body is appropriate with a somewhat smallish white head for the style with mediocre retention and lace. Mouth NOT as slippery as I would expect, but does have excellent carbonation, if pretty full for a hefe and almost chewy. Very sourdough yeast flavor, very different lots of orange and clove and lemmon and just very tart and sour, a ton of wheat in the flavor, and a bit of bubble gum. Hints of nuts along the way. Finishes with a surprising amount of hops bite that heads towards grapefruit. This is an odd hefe but very tasty!

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

Nose predominately hops,lots of pine and citrus, a thin wiff of vanilla and malt. Smallish white head sits leaves mediocre lace and sits atop a hazy medium amber/light copper body. Mouth feel is medium bodied carbonation a bit flat. Flavor, well this is a beer for the hop heads, nothing delicate of balanced here, its straight ahead hops...a big mouthful of bitter, hint of deep over-ripe fig or raisin, very bitter finish, all appropriate to an American IPA. Well done for what it is. Rerate:2022 head lasts with a nice skim coat and leaves lovely lace. Carbonation is spot on.

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

Mild nose of malt and citrus sits. Beige head that is minimal with OK lace on top of dark copper body. Mouth is medium carbonation a touch flat. Some biscuit and chocolate in the flavor firmly hopped for an English Pale, deep ripe fruit, lots of pine in the finish, pretty good brew. 7% alcohol is well masked, there is a touch of warming at the end, finish is very clean and dry.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Aroma reminiscent of a Brown ale, slightly funky (they always remind me of tennis balls) some vanilla and some peppery and citrusy hop notes with just a touch of biscuit. Great rocky head is large and pure white with moderate retention and fantastic lace, sits atop a slightly fogged (organic) medium golden body with a hint of copper. This beer has a lovely mouthfeel, thick and slippery and a bit chewy with nice tingle from well done carbonation. OK, now that I have reveiwed it I have read the other reviews of people who I respect like ECB and Hannah and Eaglefan and others. I do agree that the color may not be right for style but I am shocked by the low reviews it has received, I am going to have to get another soon and drink it cold to see if that is the difference or perhaps there is a lack of consistency. I am drinking this on the warm side which I suspect is appropriate. The taste if very round and mellow, excellent balance! Starts tart, almost fermented pear with significant hop notes of pepper and citrus, there is a very mild carmel note, it is not grassy, yeast is big in mid-taste but is not sour: somehow it has a very deep mellowness to it, there is bread and malt and vanilla towards the end which is mellowing the yeast flavor I think, and it ends dry and slightly tart with significant warming effect of alcohol. This beer is very complex but so well balanced that the complexity is hard to notice, yes I am in Love! (and it it priced very well IMHO).

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

I hesitate to grade this one as all the lovely yeast remained stuck to the bottom of the bottle, even after vigorous agitation before the second half pour. That said the haziness has definitely improved. Pale lemon yellow body, nicely clouded, good white head with Ok lacing. Nose is a bit too mild but requisite notes of bread, citrus, and spice are present. Body is just a bit too light and mouth could be a bit more slippery. Flavor is also slightly mild but good. Banana, clove, citrus, mild peppery notes, a little unusual with a bit of hops near the end,finish is dry, aftertaste sweet and a bit of pepper. Just a touch of chemical in the end which is off-putting. First good American heffe I have tasted, this stands up well to its European competitors. I am doing a side by side with Schneider Original and its close, very close, the Schneider does not have the odd chemical taste present in the Sierra, but hats off to Sierra they are taking this heffe seriously! Will revisit another batch, the muck stuck on the bottom of the bottle really worries me, perhaps it has been mishandled and perhaps the odd chemical note is not typical, in which case this beer would rate a 3.9 or so.

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

Smells like your back yard if you happen to live in heaven. Musty, earthy, yeasty with floral notes and a hint of spicy pepper, a very nice nose like rolling in a wet pasture. Pours a hazy pale amber body with a rocky sightly off white head that lasts and provides great lacing. Great full mouth feel with lots of tingly tight carbonation. Complex yet smooth flavor, grassy notes, over-ripe pear, sour and yeasty with a VERY dry finish, a remarkable finish really. They say saisons are a heavily hopped style but I don't really detect that here, perhaps its my ignorance but this is not piney, not very citrusy, and not very bitter. INHO at around 8 the bottle this beer blows away 50 dollar champagnes and I am dying to find a place with this beer that sells good oysters.... I think that would be heaven indeed.

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

Pretty malty nose with q touch of spice and some carmel sweetness. Pours a palish copper body that is crystal clear with a large off-white head that leaves excellent lace. Mouth is medium to full with minimal but ok carbonation. Flavor would be great except for a metallic aftertaste. tons of malt and biscuit in the mouth, a little sweet honey/brown sugar and a small hops bite in mid taste. I think its the hops though, that are leaving a slightly grassy chemical aftertaste. Its upsetting becuase I really like the flavor profile up to that point.

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

A full nose with notes of citrus and pine and bread. Pours a deep gold/amber that is clear with a moderate head that i off white and rather short-lived with minimal lacing. A medium bodied mouth that is perhaps slightly too carbonated for the style (but quite likable.) Lots of good malt flavors some toffee, sweet in mid taste with some citrus notes detected and a hint of pepper, a touch of alcohol is present, the finish is moderate to slightly sweet. While I think it is a bit hoppy for the style I really enjoy the taste.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Strong nose on this beer,lemon and something I can't quite identify sort of a spicy lavender, almost pez-like but in an OK sort of way. Nice long lasting head with zero lace and very white sits over a foggy foggy pale yellow body. Mouth is a bit to watery, not much there, the carbonation is nice but lacking in slipperyness which I expect in the style. Flavor is mild, too mild. I get some lemon, some applea little pepper and a slightly disagreeable chemical hit. The beer finishes very dry which is kind of interesting. Aftertaste of apple without the sweetness. Not the best.

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

Minimal nose too heavy on the spice. Thin white head over light golden body, slightly fogged; head dissipates fast but has decent lace. Thin mouth is so so for style. Flavor starts OK, mostly orange peel and coriander, not complex or well balanced like a Hitachimi, then goes down hill, with bitter burnt spice taste and ends chemical, like one might imagine a mouthful of faded toilet disinfectant would taste, artifically fruity and astringent. 7/10 Somewhat better on draft but still not a very good effort.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

Nose is very small, no not mine...the beer's. It hints at the appropriate scents but goes away quickly. I am really not getting much ester or phenolics here, the clove and banana if present are too subtle for the style. Widmer doesn't list their yeasts but I suspect this is brewed with the wrong yeast. Doesn't pour as nice a head as most hefes, an what is there doesn't last and leaves almost no lacing. Body color and fogginess is good for style. Mouth is medium but is missing both the slipperyness and tingle of a great hefe. Flavor is more like a watered down wheat than a true hefe. As with the nose, the phenolics and esters are missing. Has a hint of citrus and finishes a bit sour. Aftertaste is slightly metallic and somewhat "Bud"-like. Also its major flavor is from hops, the hops level MIGHt be right if the rest of the flavor components were there, but they are not. Can't believe this has won the medals claimed, maybe I got a bad bottle but its just SO WRONG for the style, it doesn't even hint at hefe!

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

Very good in the bottle, fantastic on tap. This review is for the draught. Great spicey hefe nose full of yeast and esters banana and orange/lemon cirtus. Beautiful pour, huge head good lace lovely foggy golden body, mouth is full, all silk and velvet,slippery and tingly. Flavor follows the nose, cardamon, a bit of pepper, lemon, banana YUM! Hits bitter, goes sweet finishes sour, perfection!

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

Sucked down a quick bottle at O'Hare airport, no glass. Hard to say about nose without a glass but the nose seemed a bit mild., same for appearance. Mouth was medium flavor was hoppy in bitterness but not in flavor. It actually did remind me a lot of the pints of bitter I used to get in London back in 73. Very drinkable, good session beer. Kicking it up a bit based on EyeCharts appearance and aroma notes.

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

nose is all malt with vanilla and hints of butterscotch and earth. A thick white head with good retention and very good lacing sits atop a clear pale amber body. Mouth is creamy and medium bodied, flavor has a lot of malt/bread upfront, with a hint of hops and perhaps some cherries or other ripe fruit lending a midtaste sweetness, finish is just a touch bitter and quite clean with a tart aftertaste. This is a well crafted beer true to the altbier style though perhaps a touch under-hopped.

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

Perhaps it was me but I did not detect much nose in this beer. A deep copper body was topped with a lovely tight off-white head with decent lacing. Mouth was medium to full bodied with good carbonation. Flavor was interesting. Starts with a hint of sour reminding one of a good Belgian Farmhouse, then it starts tasting more like a brown ale, and at the taste's end the is a surprisingly strong hit of piney hops. The finish is remarkably dry. This would not be amongst my favorites but it is a very well made and interesting brew and fairly unique in my experience. It offers a fairly complex flavor profile and yet is quite approachable with a lower abv than one would expect. Really a nice job!

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

ReRate: 2/9/15 Was I drunk? (or has it changed) The body is now a very pale amber, the lacing is excellent. Taste is not so entirely grapefruit and this is sweeter than I remembered. The alcohol is warming. I can get in trouble with this beer, for me its sessionable at 8% and 102 IBU. Surprisingly not super-bitter, a tasty beer. Big-time grapefruit in the nose, nice dark amber body with moderate head that is off0white and low lacing. Good medium bodied mouth feel very nice carbonation level on the tongue. Flavor as nose promised, grapefruit dominates but somehow its well Alcohol totally masked. rounded, very nicely balanced. I don't know what the IBU is on this one but grapefruit is interesting, I can't really drink grapefruit juice up here in CT, its always too bitter for me, but in Florida fresh squeezed from a good grove I don't find I love it. Sort of the same with this beer, no doubt huge hops but its flavor hops not huge in bittering hops, or so it seems to me.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 2 | Overall: 3

light gold with white head minimal lace. Smells skunky, grass and chemical, smells like adjunct city. thin mouth, carbonation so so, tastes like grapefruit rind with acetone, just screams do not drink me!