Beer Review: Tröegs DreamWeaver Wheat

I had Troegs DreamWeaver on tap at Metropolitan in Baltimore a few weeks back. This is the first time of the season for me with this brew. I remember it being a decent and refreshing wheat beer, perfect for the recently warm and early Summer-like weather.

It came to me cloudy light gold with a huge fluffy white head that retains through most of the tasting. The lacing is also present throughout. It smells mild lemony citrus with just a hint of sharp spice from the hefe yeast. The taste is of subtle banana and lemon up front. It's  very subdued without much depth. While I appreciate aggressive fruit flavors in a beer, the mellowness of this one is refreshing. As it settles in it's mildy bready sweet and finishes lightly bitter.

DreamWeaver seems merely ok to me. It's an average representation of the style. I'm not sure I'd seek this out, but it's good every once in a while or for someone who isn't in to crazy craft beers. This would be a very easy introduction to the Hefeweizen style and local regional craft brews. If I happen to be shopping for a warm Summer day's session, I'd grab this if I was having a lot of people over. But, it will not be one of my regular warm season brews.

Beer Review: Harpoon UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen

Refreshing and tasty

I enjoyed this pint of UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen from Harpoon last week at Metropolitan in Baltimore. It was the first time in a while for me for this beer. This sweet treat came to me in Flying Dog pint glass. Love the local brewery shout out!

It appears pinkish orange with a thin white head and steady carbonation streams. UFO smells of tart raspberry with just a hint of fruity sweetness. No surprise there, but sometime no news is good new. The flavors up front and in the middle are of creamy bread sweetness with raspberry note. The raspberry influence is obvious but not over done. In my opinion this is should be the goal of any adjunct ingredients. It finishes tart and bitter. For a deliberately fruity hefe, this is perfectly balance in my opinion.

This is a very good beer for what it is. If you like fruit wheats, this is one of the better brews out there for you. Perfectly balanced flavor profile, unique in color and easy to drink. I picture this is an excellent Summer beer. Now...if only it came in cans...