Wingwalker - Belgian style wheat ale...

[mdunn]

... Is terrible.

There is a lot of great American beer these days, and I pick up new beer when I see it. I expected a delicious beer here and was sorely disappointed.

Firstly it's greasy in the mouth, and that thin lingering film is definitely off putting. It doesn't deliver the advertised and anticipated citrus and spice. It tastes like the dishwater after washing up the drip trays from under the taps in a bar with boring beer.

No redeeming qualities at all. I hate it in my mouth, and it stays there in the lingering grease which I mentioned before.
I mostly hate that it could have been great, as a Belgian style beer can be, but instead I got this ghastly boring shadow of a beer.

That is all.

 

[rm71]

I saw this as well at the liquor store and was curious. Lucky I did not buy any. Thanks for taking a hit for the team mate!

 

[Lucius]

... Is terrible.

There is a lot of great American beer these days, and I pick up new beer when I see it. I expected a delicious beer here and was sorely disappointed.

I tend to be the same way with trying new beer.

I'm unfamiliar with this brewery though. Why did you expect it to be good? Are you familiar with the brewery? There is a ton of great American beer nowadays. But there's also a ton of mediocre, or even bad, craft beer being brewed as well. I don't automatically assume anything is going to be good, but I do get my hopes up if I know the brewery or have heard good things about a specific beer. Even then sometimes I feel let down. After reading about Hoppin' Frog's BORIS the Crusher I finally found some when I was out of town. Based on what I paid for it I was horribly disappointed. Not a bad beer, but I didn't find it to be anything special, and for the price...ugh. Something like $12 or $15 for a bomber.

 

[Techichi]

No redeeming qualities at all. I hate it in my mouth

lol...

So what are you trying to say? Seriously, stop beating around the bush.

 

[Edcculus]

What you are describing sounds like something was wrong with that bottle. A greasy feeling on the tongue almost sounds like Diacetyl to me. That is an off flavor that is typically described as buttered popcorn. Some people (including me) can't taste or smell diacetyl at any concentration, but it leaves a greasy film on the tongue. It is usually a product of fermentation, which is later absorbed by the yeast. It can also be caused by a Pedio infection.

The dishwater comment leads me to oxidation and even DMS. Oxidation will ruin even the best beer. Not only does it make the beer taste like wet cardboard, but it will strip any pronounced flavors. DMS tastes like nasty cooked vegetables or cooked corn.

From what I read on a few reviews on the net (take with a grain of salt), a few commenters had similar problems with the beer. That leads me to believe this brewery does not have very good process control methods, or that distributors are not handling the beer properly. Unfortunately for a smaller brewery, they pretty much loose control over their beer as soon as it leaves the dock. Even with the best process control, if a distributor keeps it in a 100°F warehouse for 2 weeks, its going to come out tasting like shredded up wet cardboard. That said, where do you buy the beer? Does other beer from that store exhibit similar properties (especially the oxidation)? When I lived in Cleveland, there was a beer store with a great selection that was notorious for oxidized beer. We actually bought a bunch of beer from there when learning how to spot oxidation in my BJCP class.

Lucius - sorry you got a bad BORIS. That is one darn good beer.

 

[mdunn]

I tend to be the same way with trying new beer.

I'm unfamiliar with this brewery though. Why did you expect it to be good? Are you familiar with the brewery? There is a ton of great American beer nowadays. But there's also a ton of mediocre, or even bad, craft beer being brewed as well. I don't automatically assume anything is going to be good, but I do get my hopes up if I know the brewery or have heard good things about a specific beer. Even then sometimes I feel let down. After reading about Hoppin' Frog's BORIS the Crusher I finally found some when I was out of town. Based on what I paid for it I was horribly disappointed. Not a bad beer, but I didn't find it to be anything special, and for the price...ugh. Something like $12 or $15 for a bomber.

I had no history with this brewer. I just expected a "Belgian style wheat ale". I didn't even expect a particularly good one! But instead I got the taste of licking sticky bar carpet after it has been hosed down.

What you are describing sounds like something was wrong with that bottle. A greasy feeling on the tongue almost sounds like Diacetyl to me. That is an off flavor that is typically described as buttered popcorn. Some people (including me) can't taste or smell diacetyl at any concentration, but it leaves a greasy film on the tongue. It is usually a product of fermentation, which is later absorbed by the yeast. It can also be caused by a Pedio infection.

The dishwater comment leads me to oxidation and even DMS. Oxidation will ruin even the best beer. Not only does it make the beer taste like wet cardboard, but it will strip any pronounced flavors. DMS tastes like nasty cooked vegetables or cooked corn.

From what I read on a few reviews on the net (take with a grain of salt), a few commenters had similar problems with the beer. That leads me to believe this brewery does not have very good process control methods, or that distributors are not handling the beer properly. Unfortunately for a smaller brewery, they pretty much loose control over their beer as soon as it leaves the dock. Even with the best process control, if a distributor keeps it in a 100°F warehouse for 2 weeks, its going to come out tasting like shredded up wet cardboard. That said, where do you buy the beer? Does other beer from that store exhibit similar properties (especially the oxidation)? When I lived in Cleveland, there was a beer store with a great selection that was notorious for oxidized beer. We actually bought a bunch of beer from there when learning how to spot oxidation in my BJCP class.

Lucius - sorry you got a bad BORIS. That is one darn good beer.

If only you were right!
Im familiar with the tastes etc that pop up if the beer has gone bad - didn't pick up any of them here.

Unfortunately I've been a victim of a boring and somewhat unpleasant beer - not a bottle that's been skunked in some way