Unplugged Imperial Weizen

I picked up this beer while Luke and I were on the way home from our road trip up to Northern Wisconsin. Interestingly, I found this beer in a gas station! Along with NG's Abt among others. I finally got around to tasting this while reading Mr. John King's Latest Blog post.

Appearance: Poured into a Merrill Lynch Weizen glass. Apricot orange with a golden hue complemented with a blanketed haze and spontaneous, slow rising carbonation bubbles from the depths of the glass. The head is bright white with peaks as it diminishes, leaving behind a thick filmed lacing along the sides.

Aroma: Very estery, reminiscent of of over ripened peaches followed by a highly apparent banana scent, once the nose adjusts. Faint notes of clove. This beer is both estery and phenolic with a neutrally sweet (perhaps bread) backbone with a touch of citrus.

Taste: It's a bready sweetness that makes for a very short lived backbone, but enough to be a foundation to the rest of the complexities this beer has to offer. Next comes some mild undertones of apricot and peach-like esters. Even orange peel is present. Clove at the back of the jaw. Near the end, the hops make their introduction with a subtle back of the palate citrus, while still remaining an undertone to the front, more aggressive flavors noted earlier. The finish then leaves a note of wheaty biscuit sweetness with a presence of flour and YEAST! Nevertheless it maintains a refreshing character with a understated alcoholic element. As the beer warms there emerges a Belgian-esk/Saison flavor.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth and drinkable. Carbonation is medium in profile and residing at the end of the beers sense definition. The body is on the higher end of medium. What's left is a dry, yet cloying feeling on the roof of the mouth
Overall Impression: What a wheat beer! The complexity cannot be emphasized more. The cloves, peaches, banana, citrus and Belgian flavors aren't half of it. This is a phenomenally crafted ale! I don't normally enjoy the "Imperial or Big Beers," let alone wheat beer's but this is something else! Way to go, New Glarus!


95/100