Driftwood Brewery Entangled Hopfenweisse at 7% ABV (C$7.29 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, no bottle date or best before, acquired 23-Jul-2016, reviewed 25-Jul-2016)
Appearance: hazy medium gold with two fingers of rocky white head, good retention and patchy lacing. (3/5) Aroma: tropical fruit, pithy citrus, resiny pine, pale malt, clove, banana. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (4/5)
Woo! That’s how you do a wheat beer. I’ve had the original Hopfenweisse – the G. Schneider & Sohn / Brooklyn Brewery collab – as well as Les Trois Mousquetaires’ kick at it, and even the surprisingly good Creemore Springs (Molson) rendition. To varying degrees, they all do the same thing: blend hefeweizen banana and cloves with forward American hops. This? Well, it does that… sort of. By which I mean, it nukes your nose and tongue with huge PNW hops, then the few surviving taste buds report a little banana and clove in the finish. It ain’t pretty, and it’s subtle as a brick. So, of course, I love it. (And another gorgeous Driftwood label, too!) If you’re a hophead like me, run, don’t walk, to your local yadda yadda yadda. And to be crystal clear: if you’re rating this as a hefeweizen, you’re missing the point. (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
