Brewdog: Vice Bier (Scotland: Wheat Ale: 4.3% ABV)
Visual: Light grain gold. Moderate carbonation. Milky white thin head that leaves suds.
Nose: Lemon pancakes. Milk. Wheat. Coriander. Carrot. Dry.
Body: Nicely bitter. Lemon. Wheat. Cream. Some nice hop character. Meringue. Lager like back to the body.
Finish: Wheat and bitterness. Dry. Lemon. Very crisp. Milky. Hops. Bubblegum.
Conclusion: Odd. This thing’s name is an obvious pun on weisse bier, but the flavor actually reminds me more of the traditional take on a Belgium wit. It is even odder as the feel, crispness and dryness remind me a lot of German lagers. The coriander, lemon and user of wheat however pulls it back to the Belgium style again for me.
The lager styling means that it is very drinkable, with nice moderate abv, crisp and refreshing feel and the flavours are well defined. The bubblegum style of the finish is unusual but integrates well, giving it a new twist in the send off.
It isn’t the most complex of beers, and does not compare with say “Not Just Another Wit” or “Weihenstephaner Hefe Weisse” on either ends of the style scales, but it does have a good hop bitterness that is not usually present in wheat beers. That last bit really helps for me as I am a touch of a hop head.. It brinsg some of the hop character of recent experiments in German Weisse but at an almost session beer abv.
A beer for session rather than contemplation where it would not fare well, but it has a lovely mix of quirks as that. Very enjoyable.
Background: As the review suggests I was unsure on the style definition on this one, so I looked on ratebeer. They say “Wheat Ale”. Not really an expert on that style but it seems to make sense so I went with it. Drunk on keg at Brewdog Bristol on a very hot summer’s day. Was out with some friends I hadn’t seen for a while so kept tasting notes to a minimum. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers but I try.
