Brewdog: Ticketybrew: Coffee Wit (England: Wheat Ale: 5.2% ABV)
Visual: Cloudy lemon to apricot. Small white dash but no real head.
Nose: Stewed fruit and coffee. Maybe apricot in the stewed fruit. Light funky yeast. Slightly musky with a touch of sulfur to it.
Body: Mild cold filter coffee. Funky yeast. Lemon sherbet. Carrot and coriander. Apricot. Slightly fizzy and with a chalky touch.
Finish: Malt drinks. Coriander. Bitter and wheaty. Slightly chalky. Slightly soured touch.
Conclusion: I’ve never been quite sold on coffee in wheat beers. Ok, by never I mean I have tried it once, I’m trying to create a back story here. Leave me alone. The use of coffee seemed to contradict and clash with the benefits of a wit beer, and end up stomping over each others elements rather than complimenting them.
This seems a bit of a better example, there is some soft apricot sweetness and stewed fruit which survived in the main beer, the coffee feels almost cold filtered in style so works much more subtly in the background. It isn’t perfect, there is a chalkiness to it which I’m not quite sure if is needed. Normally a touch of chalkiness can be ok as a grounding to a big beer, but this doesn’t seem to need that, so it seems like a bit of an odd note. Similarly you get a slightly soured touch on the way out with the same issues.
Now while it does balance the coffee and main body better, it still has some of the same problems I have with the style – a lot of the subtle lighter notes are lost, as coffee is a strong flavour, and the coffee elements added don’t seem to give enough to the beer in exchange.
It does keep a bit of the base wheat, in fact the almost carrot and coriander remind me of the Belgian style wit I think it is trying to call to – and that is enough to keep my attention, but not enough to really make me recommend this. I have a feeling any wit to go this way would need to be brewed big to survive, and I’ve not seen any manage it yet.
Background: I have only had one experience with a coffee wheat beer before, and I wasn’t quite sold on it, however I am not one to be put off easily, so when this, the seventh collabfest 2014 beer came up I was intrigued to see if I found it more to my liking. So yes, a wheat beer, with coffee, not much else to say. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers.
