I just cracked my first brew for Saturday. It's the Avery Brewing Co. White Rascal Belgian style wheat ale.
Damn. This is good.
The head on this wasn't anywhere near as big as the Troublette, and I fit the whole bottle in the glass without having to stop and wait for the head to subside, like I had to with both the Southampton and the Troublette. Carbonation is definitely slightly lower, but it's there and a good amount, just less than the previous wheats.
The scent is great. It's got hints of bubblegum, but is predominately orange peel, coriander and yeast, in that order. It really begs one to quaff
( To drink with gusto), and I did just that. I like this ale, and I think I just found a Belgian wheat I prefer over the Southampton. After drinking about half of this bottle down I looked a little closer and I think I found one of the reasons I am into this one, it's got Czech Saaz hops! Have I mentioned I like this beer? After about 2/3 is gone, and the brew starts warming I'm not getting any of the "hot" flavors I got from the Troublette, and there's a nice lacing of champagne bubbles holding on the whole way. Now I'm changing Biermuncher's Blue Balls clone recipe to use Saaz when I make it. I just don't know if I'll get any of those soon. Maybe the Slovenian Styrian Goldings I've been holding onto for a couple weeks will work? If you've had a Blue Moon then you know the basics of one of these type beers, but this one tastes fresh and crisp and I could drink many of these. I had to take a look at
Avery's webpage for this beer to get a little more info. The ABV is 5.6%, which is a tenth higher than the Troublette, yet this White Rascal goes down clean without a hint of that ABV.
To make a comparison, the closest thing I can think of is tea. I know this might not work for many on this side of the pond, but Orfy and a few others might get my drift here. If you've ever had a cup of Lipton hot picture that. It's tea, and there's color, and the flavor components are there alright, and it tastes ok. Then there's PG Tips, or my favorite Typhoo, and once you brew up a pot of this in a proper Brown Betty and taste the flavor potential of a similar, yet so much more intense, tea you don't really want to have another cup of Lipton. Along those lines, I'll surely drink another Blue Moon, because it's affordable and readily available, but I'll be longing for this beer when I do.
In deference to Biermuncher, those are some Triscuits on the plate along side my brisket on a roll with a little melted cheese.