ClubGonzo’s Spring Wit

Spring Wit by ClubGonzo, Belgian Witbier, 5.5% ABV, 12.2 IBU.

It may not be spring anymore, but a refreshing wit will hopefully taste well this late summer evening as well!

ClubGonzo’s Spring Wit, batch no. 55.

This is how a very softly carbonated wit looks like.

The aroma is strong and true to the style, it’s crisp, wheaty, spicy, yeasty, citric and with a sweet background. It’s worth noting that I also find it completely clean, without any solvent of other faults…

The flavour is strong, and once again it’s spot on the witbier style: coriander, wheat, hints of pepper, citrus, Belgian yeast and a touch of caramel in the back. It has a very light acidic taste, some sweetness and hardly any bitterness.

Unfortunately the beer is almost completely flat, and that really destroys the overall impression of this beer. It hasn’t got the body to cope with such a lack of carbonation, and for a wit it feels utterly wrong. It’s rather dry on the palate. The very soft carbonation is also responsible for the very small and short-lived, white head. The body looks good, though, it’s cloudy and close to opaque, with a yellow colour.

Conclusion: a clean, crisp, refreshing, simple, no fuzz wit with a strong aroma and flavour, but it suffers from the lack of carbonation.

Aroma:      7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste:      7/10
Palate:     2/5
Overall:    12/20
Ratebeer score: 3.1/5.0

ClubGonzo’s Wit & Charm

Wit & Charm by ClubGonzo, Belgian Witbier, 4.8% ABV, 18 IBU.

ClubGonzo likes his coriander seeds and lemon juice, and in the Lush Summer these ingredients were welcome additions. Let’s see what the two additives can do with a Belgian witbier.

ClubGonzo’s Wit & Charm, batch 29.

It pours a cloudy yellow body with a medium-sized, creamy, white head that’s fairly long-lasting, and it laces the glass well. So far so good.

The aroma is moderate and fairly crisp, although not as crisp as I’d expected with the extra dosage of lemon juice. I get notes of sweet citrus, overripe fruits, some spices and traces of alcohol. Yay. 4.8% ABV, and I can smell the alcohol. This isn’t very promising.

The taste is light sweet, light acidic and there are hardly any traces of bitterness. The flavours are quite faint, and what I get is mostly coriander, lemon and generic fruity notes, in addition to vague traces of higher alcohols. Utterly boring.

The mouthfeel is watery, and the carbonation is rather soft, which is not at all fitting for the style. The finish is quite dry.

Conclusion: Coriander and lemon can make a beer crisp and refreshing, as the quite successful Lush Summer proved. Sometimes however adding stuff can’t save a boring beer from being a big yawn.

Aroma:      5/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste:      4/10
Palate:     2/5
Overall:    8/20
Ratebeer score: 2.3/5.0

Dr. M nr 4 – van Gogh

van Gogh by Dr. M, Belgian Witbier, 5.5% ABV, 64 IBU.

Dr. M seems to like his beers dark brown, with little or no regards to the beer style. His fourth brew is no exception, this time it’s a wheat beer with caramel malt, fermented with both saison and Belgian wit yeast and hopped with Saaz and Citra.

Dr. M nr. 4 – van Gogh. The label is nice. And that’s it.

van Gogh in the glass (and on the iPad in the background)

In the glass the medium brown body looks very cloudy and dirty, but again the head saves the day. It’s large, creamy, egg-white and fully lasting. It laces the glass excellently, and it stays a thick layer until the glass is empty. Or rather, until I pour the remaining beer into the sink. Because this is not a successful brew in my opinion.

It starts out quite all right though, the aroma is rather strong and pleasant, with fruits, banana, spices and sweet caramel. In the back there are hints of noble hops. And then the familiar scent that I’ve come across so many times before on my journey into home brew land, namely stinging, unclean and unpleasant alcohol. It’s not too intrusive though, so if the flavour profile isn’t’ dominated by this, it may still be a pleasant experience.

The taste is moderate to heavy sweet, totally unfitting for the style. A light to moderate bitterness comes creeping in mid-palate, but it fades away remarkably fast, leaving the finish short and dull. The flavours are of moderate strength, and are, ta-daaaa, dominated by unpleasant, stinging alcohol. In addition I get generic, dirty sweetness, fruits and some spices.

The mouthfeel is not that pleasant, it’s wrong on so many levels. Cloying sweetness, short finish, stinging alcohol, watery texture, etc.

Conclusion: definitely not one of Dr. M’s better brews. The aroma and the looks are quite all right, the rest is highly forgettable.

Aroma:      6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste:      4/10
Palate:     2/5
Overall:    7/20
Ratebeer score: 2.2/5.0