Captain Banana

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Captain Banana

• Brewery: Three Heads Brewing (New York)

• Style: Unfiltered Wheat

• ABV: 6%

• IBU: 18

• Pour Color: A very hazy gold to dark yellow color. Little light gets thru. 

      A decent head as we started to eye each other up. The color was a nice full bodied gold. You can tell this beer was not filtered in the slightest. I hit the foam full force and bested it. A nice wheat flavor to this beer. Almost a slight sour dough flavor to. The banana that they advertise on the side of the bottle gives it a slight sweetness and evens it out nicely. The banana comes through as a slightly under ripened banana. A really nice wheat beer through and through. 

      Captain banana is another great logo and story from three heads. Luckily it's also another good beer. You can tell right from the get go that if you don't like unfiltered beer this isn't down your alley and the wheat flavor is gonna be heavy. The balance that the banana brings to the mix is what makes it a easy sipping beer. Great beer to take a swim in and make my return to beer reviews! Glad i got to try it with some cookie dough at hometown throwdown at lovin cup recently!!!!

Rating: ****

Encore

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Encore

• Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing Company (Vermont)

• Style: IPA

• ABV: 6.4%

• IBU: 45

• Pour Color: A hazy amber color. Cloudy but light travels through easy.

      The head of the beer was fairly low. Hung around at the top for awhile as a thin film. The pour in the glass looked to have a strong hop haze from the dry hopping. The scent off the top of the glass didn't really offer that sense though. You get a little hop and a little wheat kick in the smell. Tasting this one gives you a mix of flavors. While in mouth your getting a nice kick of pine and citrus hops. It also has a orange peal bitter taste. Then as you swallow that kick of the wheat comes in strong and clean. Not a bad wheat IPA. 
      This is a good beer that does what it aims for. You get a nice hop presence and a nice wheat end. It has a nice crisp clean taste that puts a lot of pale wheat ales to shame. Being a hop loving mustache though it's not hoppy enough. It does have another factor on it's side though. At 6.4% ABV it's actually a higher ABV then most wheat ales. Remember when drinking this one, although very smooth, it ain't a session beer. I wouldn't shy away from this one if I found myself hovering above it again. 

Rating: ****

Smuttynose Summer Weizen

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Summer Weizen Ale

• Brewery: SmuttyNose Brewing Company (Delaware)

• Style: Wheat Beer

• ABV: 5.46%

• IBU:15

• Pour Color:A nice see through golden color, very bright! Slight hazy look.

      The pour of this one was a nice gold color and had a finger and a half high head. The head didn't stick around to long. It had a nice yeasty wheat scent off the top. Held up to the light you notice a nice slight haze. A nice strong taste of wheat and yeast up front. The hoppyness starts coming through as a nice citrus grassy tone. A slightly sour to this one makes it quite refreshing actually. I really liked this beer. 
      The Summer Weizen is another summer wheat beer. I feel bad I didn't find it earlier this summer. It's got that nice wheat taste you would expect and a lot of hop character. The sour dough taste at the end is just enough to be delicious and refreshing. Summer is a great season for seasonal beers!

Rating: ****1/2

Summerbright Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Summerbright Ale

• Brewery: Breckenridge Brewing Company (Colorado)

• Style: Wheat Beer

• ABV: 4.5%

• IBU: 15

• Pour Color: Golden, light can easily pass through.

      This one poured like a champ for the Face and I was anxious to take a swim! The head was fluffy and actually quite thick for a summer wheat beer. The head hung around for a good while too. The color was light golden was nearly transparent. The scent off the glass was a wheat one of course. A slight hint of citrus in there too. The beer it self is very light bodied and ballenced well. It has a nice sweetness in the malts. A very wheat flavor too. The citrus kick is what makes this refreshing. It gives it a crispness in flavor that works really well to just give a little bitter. I really enjoyed this summer ale. 
      Another summer seasonal and another really good beer. With Sam Adams summer you get hit with lemon hard. Now, myself, I really enjoy it. This one doesn't do that though. The orange and the lemon peel mix well to give a great flavor.  Most the summer ales I've reviewed don't fall under 5% abv. This is a great easy drinking ale that won't knock you on your butt on those 95 degree days. Also a real delightful kick of citrus that gives it character. Treat your mustache (upper lip) to a dip in it today!

Rating: ****

Finger Lake Summer Wheat

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Finger Lake Summer Wheat

• Brewery: Custom Brewcrafters 

• Style: Hefeweizen

• ABV:5%

• IBU: 45

• Pour Color: Golden color and quite hazy.

      On pour this one got a nice little head to it. Looked golden and glowed in the sunlight. The scents off the top were of a nice orange tone and wheat malts. After taking all that in the head was pretty much gone. On the taste you get a really really full flavored hefe. I mean it's got that crisp tone of the citrus to get the follicles tingling. It also has a nice full wheat flavor. All and all a good beer. 
       As a summer seasonal this is a kick ass beer. It's crisp, light and has a nice orange flavor that makes blue moon look boring. With this and Brewcrafters also doing The Razz, wheat beers is where it's at for them. Next really hot day pick up a six of this one. Your mustache will be refreshed after a splash of this one. 

Rating: ****1/2

Raspberry

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Raspberry

• Brewery: Sea Dog Brewing (Maine)

• Style: Fruit Beer

• ABV: 4.7%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A dark beer on pour. When held up to light shows red through.

      Another sea dog beer and another fruit flavor. I think the face likes these guys or something. On pour it's golden and crisp. The head really didn't show up when this one was poured. The scent is a sweet raspberry. On taste it's also the taste of that sweet raspberry. The wheat is mellow but it's there especially as you swallow. Almost a biscuit flavor that mixes well with the echos of raspberry. 
      Sea Dog really knows how to make fruit beers drinkable. At 4.7% this one has a higher alcohol level then most the fruit beers out there. As with the other Sea Dog this one is a fruit first beer. The difference with this one though, is that it has the wheat flavor, really making the fruit crisper. This is a really good fruit beer.

 

Rating: ****

Shock Top Wheat IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Wheat IPA
  

• Brewery: Shock Top

• Style: IPA

• ABV: 5.8%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: See through golden color

      Me and the Face really ain't Shock Top fans for the most part. As a hop lover I had to try the Shock Top IPA. The head was actually quite fluffy for a minute. As the beer was lifted to me I started to believe this was a IPA. It had a hop aroma to it. Then on the sip I realized why it's a wheat IPA. The wheat flavor is strong in this one. A normal shock top will try to complement the fruit flavors, with  the malts, this one didn't. I will say that this is one of the few Wheat beers I would order in a restaurant. Nice and crisp in the mouth it's really not what I expected.
      Honestly this one I think is closer to most micro brewed pales instead of Indian pale ale. Seems like shock top wanted to cut into the IPA market in name only! The wheat IPA though, with that smoothness, would be a good beer for summer. Still not going to be popular with everyone cause it's bitterer then most "normal" beers, and it's not really up to par with micro brewed IPAs. At 6.99 a growler fill at Face's spot, you really can't complain. Ahhh the luxury of not really being microbrewed. 

Note: If you can't find this one on tap then I would skip it. It really lacks any kind of hop flavor to it at all in the bottle. I was amazed at how boring a beer this was once bottled.

  

Rating: ***

Apricot

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Apricot
  

• Brewery: Sea Dog brewing co. (Maine)

• Style: Fruit Beer

• ABV: 4.6%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A golden color with a orange haze.

      The Face grabbed himself another fruit beer today. Nice little apricot treat. As Face poured it the head disappeared quickly. A nice golden color that has just a slight orange to it. As I was drenched in it I realized this is much stronger of a apricot taste then most. Sweet also it has a ripe flavor of apricot. Nothing else really shines through strongly. A interesting take on fruit beer.
      Sea Dog has a wide verity of beers in many styles. This one is my second sea dog to taste and the first I have reviewed. I really enjoy the Sea Dog Blueberry and this one is in the same vain as that one. Strong straight forward fruit flavor! This one however just wasn't the same level as the Blueberry .

  

Rating: ***1/2