Duggan's #18

Duggan’s Brewery in Toronto has adopted a numerical system of naming their beers (see previous posts in which I reviewed #9, #46, and #99). The #18 is billed as a raspberry weiss beer. It’s a 5.4%, 22 IBU brew that I recently picked up at the bottle shop in a bottle (volume uncertain, but it must have been between 400-500mL).

For a wheat beer, I found #18 to be notably dark in colour—closer to an auburn than the pale gold I was expecting. The beer poured with a fluffy cloud of off-white head, but it was short-lived. The beer had a tart berry nose supplemented with a waft of banana and a yeasty fug. The tartness of the raspberry elements really came through in the flavour, which is nearly sour. The mouthfeel was sturdier than many others in the style, which hurt crispness but gave the beer a bit more substance.

 

The big one-eight from Duggan’s is a pretty enjoyable little wheater; however, it is a bit wanting on the back end, which finishes short, tart, and uninspired. It’s also a bit low on the fizzy fizzy. Otherwise, the beer has a lot going for it: good strength, meaty body, and a tart raspberry vibe that tastes authentic and isn’t sweetened into jammy oblivion. Even with out a better established back end, I thought #18 was good stuff.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Burlington Funk: Nickel Brook Raspberry Über Berliner-Style Weisse

Nickel Brook Raspberry Über Berliner-Style Weisse is a 3.8% alcohol ale in the German style from Burlington, Ontario's Nickel Brook Brewing Co. The ale poured a surprisingly pink and hazy hue, topped with a short-lived light pink head. According to the label of the 375mL bottle, this pink concoction clocks a mere 3 IBUs.

Über has a punchy raspberry aroma that straddles between tart berry and cool-aid sweetness. The flavour is far leas sweet than the aroma, built around a tart raspberry vibe. Über has a tight, short taste, with a fraction of sweetness dwarfed by seriously fruity sourness. It is effervescent, but fairly thin on the mouthfeel.

Once one battles through its lurid pinkness, NB's Raspberry Über Berliner-Style Weisse has an engrossing cordial quality that makes it quite enjoyable. I'd have liked a bit more body from this wheat beer, but it tasted pretty nice all the same. The real beef for me was that the raspberry flavour really dominated the beery elements of this little ale.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Lawn Chair "Classic" Weisse

As a longtime fan of comically unnecessary quotation marks, I found myself instantly drawn to Hop City Brewing Co.'s Lawn Chair "Classic" Weisse. What is that punctuation supposed to suggest?

This beer hails from Brampton, Ontario. The 473mL can is Miami teal and is emblazoned with a "classic" lawn chair. Lawn Chair contains 5% alcohol. It's a bright golden brew--slightly hazy and pours with a thick, white head that faded quickly. I noticed some floaties, but these seemed to be spice particles. The very aggressive aroma has considerable spiciness, a hint of black pepper, and, as advertized on the can, a touch of clove. It's also accompanied by some chill fruit. The flavour begins very sweetly, with wheaty notes and loads of fruit esthers. There's a bit of spice to bring up the rear, but in a restrained fashion.

Lawn Chair is too sweet to be refreshing and it lacks the subtlety that makes for a truly excellent wheat beer. Still, it does have a modestly enjoyable flavour. Would I buy it again?  I imagine that I might. Should you? I guess. It's nice stuff on a hot day.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.

Muskoka Summer Weiss

According to the label, Muskoka Summer Weiss is an "intriguingly delicious summer what beer".  It comes from the good folks at the Muskoka Brewery in Bracebridge, Ontario. It's sold in 355mL bottles and contains a standard 5% alcohol.

M.S.W. pours an almost clear, sunny gold. It looks like a faintly hazy pale lager. It has very little head, but a decent amount of carbonation. Its lovely aroma is all wheat, yeast, and citrus. The flavour faithfully mimics the nose. Citrus and yeast represent the primary notes. There's also a delicate floral note in there somewhere. The finish is wheaty and brief.

Refreshing and fizzy, this stuff is a more than adequate cool down on a hot afternoon--a welcome addition to a backyard BBQ. For some reason, I was expecting tart citrus, rather than sweet, but the mix that they've landed on works well. I'd really have liked this stuff to have poured with a bit more head. The M.S.W. is not nearly as elite as Mad Tom IPA, an exceptional offering from Muskoka, but it is a really fine beer in its own right.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Aventinus Doppelbock

This tasty and tasteful brew comes from Kelheim, Bavaria in Germany. It's brewed by Schneider & Sohn. It comes in a classy looking 500mL bottle and contains a bold 8.2% alcohol. This brew is billed as "Germany's original wheat doppelbock." It is a bottle-conditioned doppelbock that pours a very cloudy brown colour. It's somewhat swampy looking.

Aventinus has a nuanced aroma that is both yeasty and fruity--not unlike a sour banana bread. The label led me to expect a flavour that, among other things, combines banana and chocolate and that's just what I got. This powerful brew evokes fresh-baked banana bread with just a pinch of yeasty sourness in the aftertaste.

 It's a touch too sweet and too punchy to sit down to a handful, but this is a great after dinner beer. It has a compelling flavour combination.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Weiss/Wit/Wheat Week-Paulaner Hefe-Weizen

Wheat!  It's everywhere!

Paulaner is a tasty weissbier that hails from Munich, Germany.  Sold in 330mL bottles, it measures 5.5% alcohol, pours a cloudy yellow colour, and features loads of carbonation.

Paulaner is topped by a lively white head and has tons of lace.  There is a bready aroma coupled with faint notes of orange peel.  Similarly, the taste is doughy and features lots of citrus notes.  There is a medium mouthfeel and loads of fizziness.  The back-end is incredibly sweet...perhaps a little too sweet.

Paulaner is pretty much the prototypical wheat beer.  It has the colour, the cloudiness and the orange peel aroma that I have come to expect.  Weissbiers aren't my favourite style, but Paulaner's merits are hard to deny.  It looks nice, smells great and has an interesting flavour.  The only drawback is the too sweet aftertaste.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Also, it has this ridiculously wholesome Alpine scene on the bottle:

Weiss/Wit/Wheat Week: Dennison's Weissbier

Recently, a dream of mine came true.  My partner and I have dated for a long time and throughout the majority of our relationship, she has insisted that she isn't interested in beer.  Recently, she has decided that perhaps beer isn't so bad.  Her taste runs to the lighter end of the spectrum, preferring lagers and other pale brews.  This week, she agreed to review a beer with me.  I'm pretty pumped about it.

Because Partner prefers lighter tasting beer, we opted for a wheat beer.  Denison's Weissbeer is billed as a Bavarian-style wheat beer.  Brewed by Denison's Brewing Company, the Weissbeer hails from Toronto.  It is sold in 473mL cans.  It weighs in at a respectable 5.3%.

D.W. poured pale and cloudy straw colour.  It was considerably fizzy.  Said Partner, "It's like a crazy carbonation party."  The aroma was a delightful blend of tart fruit notes--pear and apple.  As Partner evocatively put it, "It smells like walking through an orchard after a cold rain."

The flavour begins with a cider-like pear flavour that moves toward a sour, bready aftertaste.  Nestled somewhere in between is the typical weissbier orange peel flavour.  The slightly elevated alcohol content is fairly evident.  In fact, D.W. might actually taste stronger than it is.  For that reason, it isn't particularly sessionable, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.  The mouthfeel is medium and quite fizzy.

Both Partner and I enjoyed this brew and would drink it again.  We agreed that it'd be quite enjoyable with a meal.  As weissbeers go, Denison's was pretty good.  Nice aroma, inviting initial taste, and considerably refreshing.  The sour aftertaste was a touch unwieldy, which kept the rating from being higher, but still a solid pint.

Rating:  7.5 out of 10 (Partner said 7.0).

Also, Arlo thought it smelled good:

Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen

Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen is a delicious wheat beer from Frankfurt, Germany.  It is imported in 500mL bottles and checks in at 5.0%alc./vol.  Like most weissbiers, Schöfferhofer pours extremely cloudy and features a considerable amount of foamy white head.  Once pored and settled,  the suds are a brownish gold-colour and feature a pleasant, yeasty aroma.

The bottle is not particularly noteworthy, except for a tiny portrait of Peter Schöffer von Gernsheim, a one-time apprentice of Johannes Gutenberg.  Apparently, Schöfferhofer is brewed in his former abode.

In terms of taste, the flavour begins sweetly and finishes richly (sometimes I wish that "yeastily" was a word).  In between, there are citrus hints and a slight sourness.  This beer looks great and tastes very good.  It is moderately refreshing and is just slightly more bitter than more common weissbiers like Hoegaarden.  Fans of wheat beers should definitely give this one a try, as should anyone looking for a unique late-summer brew.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.