Brewdog: Juniper Wheat (Scotland: Wheat Ale: 5% ABV)
Visual: Clear grain to gold. Small white head that is pretty much only a small layer over the liquid.
Nose: Light sour berries. Slightly dusty. Twigs.
Body: Sour berries. Cooked chicken. Gooseberry. Red fruit. Light passion fruit. Slightly cloying. Nettles. Light sugary sweetness.
Finish: Slightly cloying. Cooked chicken. Dry end. Greenery. Sour. Dried apricot.
Conclusion: Hmm, not the greatest. I had a small sample of this first and it seemed quite interesting, but as it turns out the full glass is a bit of a let down. There’s a light berry sourness which should be refreshing, but as a whole the beer feels quite cloying. It seems like a more beer styled version of International Arm’s Race, but the two ideas don’t mix well. The dreaded cooked chicken elements are here and on top of that the berries really don’t bring in enough flavor with their sourness.
It’s not really refreshing enough with the sourness, not heavy enough to justify the cloying. It feels more like an experiment that a beer with none of the usual wheat associated flavours present. The oddity of flavor can be interesting but hardly recommended.
As a Brewdog fan this is hard to say, but this is not a beer I can recommend. It’s not vile, but there isn’t a huge amount going for it.
Background: Found at Brewdog Bristol. Yes I know I’m saying that a lot recently. It just opened and I’m temporarily obsessed by the place. It should blow over soon and the normal balance of reviews will resume. This is another of their keg only beers so thought it would be worth grabbing a review while it was there. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers.
