Grizzly Wulff Wheat
Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co.

Grizzly Wulff WheatGrizzly Wulff Wheat
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From:
Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co.
 
Montana, United States
Style:
Kristallweizen
ABV:
5.3%
Score:
75
Avg:
3.05 | pDev: 21.97%
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
27
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 06, 2015
Added:
Jul 02, 2002
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  0
The Wulff is styled after the Austrian Kristall Weizen, a clear and filtered wheat beer.

Unlike many low gravity bottled wheats ,the Wulff shares the bluster and flare of its namesake fly, having a high starting gravity for the style.

PLAYBOY magazine (JuLy 2003) picked our Grizzly Wulff Wheat as one of the best microbrew beers across America!!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ALESwhatCURESya:
Photo of ALESwhatCURESya
Reviewed by ALESwhatCURESya from Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Brought back from yellowstone. I will keep this short because there is not a lot to say about this one. This is nothing more than a nice, micro wheat. The taste is a little sharp and tangy, but it is still enjoyable. I like my wheats a little crisper than this one gave out. There was a nice amount of light carbonation off the bottom of the glass. The taste of lemon grass is very evident. Decent beer, but boring when you have a fridge full of other choices.
Oct 10, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.59 by sporklift87 from Colorado

Apr 06, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by a77cj7 from South Dakota

Nov 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by BrewtalHonesty from Oregon

Aug 16, 2014
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.49/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
this is a style that mandates robust carbonation, and this one never gets there, but aside from that obvious mouthfeel dilemma, the beer is pretty nice. clean filtered here type, white wheat malt and a fruity yeast combine for a simple clean and refreshingly quaffable brew. certainly not at the level of some of the best german and austrian examples of the style, but for a small american outfit, its delightful. crispy finish, just a hit of banana and dryness to it, but i could drink ten of these in an afternoon if they were cold. the problem is, it doesnt warm up well, dropping what little carbonation it has, and getting heavy. nothing earth shattering here, but a good local craft brew worth drinking on your next trip to billings. works well as a summer session brew.
Jul 19, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by rhinonau from Wyoming

Oct 28, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by Eric908 from South Dakota

Jul 31, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by IDABEERGUY from Idaho

Jun 25, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by spycow from Illinois

May 01, 2013
 
Rated: 1.01 by tbone1384 from Wyoming

Nov 17, 2012
 
Photo of Bockrules
Reviewed by Bockrules from New Mexico

3.2/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
poured from the bottle into a Weizen glass

A -Pours a golden blonde with near-perfect clarity and plenty of carbonation rushing to the where the head was. The head was white, and literally gone in less than 30 seconds.

S - A fair amount of wheat malt and a bit of lemon. Really not much here.

T - A little bit of lemon up front. The body is dominated by wheat malt and lemon flavor with just a hint of hop flavor in the background to provide some semblance of balance. Big splash of lemony flavor and a bit of hop bitterness as the beer passes over the back of the tongue with a clean, wheat-malt finish.

M - Light with lively carbonation. A real thirst quencher for sure without coming off watery.

Although Grizzly Wulff Wheat lacks the appearance and aroma of a well crafted beer, it is one of the most thirst quenching beers I have had in a long time. Almost has a lemon soda quality to it that would make it perfect for those lazy, long summer days up around Yellowstone. Too bad it's retired now, or it would make the perfect summer golf, fishing, etc beer up in Montana.
Jan 22, 2012
Photo of timmlimestone
Reviewed by timmlimestone from Wisconsin

2.59/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Appearance - Light, very light.

Smell - Tangy, citrusy, very lightly lemon.

taste - Very heavy on the sour. This could be an alco-pop. But there is no sweet to it.

Mouthfeel - Tart, tart, tart.

Drinkability - If it had a balance, then the drink could be on.

This is an interesting and very off the wall beer. I appreciate it, but I am not enamored by it. Overall this is a strange lemony beer that is reminiscent of a bad stand in elementary school. This is too tart, too sour, and too puckering.
Mar 23, 2008
Photo of ChainGangGuy
Reviewed by ChainGangGuy from Georgia

2.23/5  rDev -26.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Appearance: Pours a bright, pale yellow body with a lush white head.

Smell: Limp, uninspired aroma of pale malts and sour citrus fruits.

Taste: Hints of wheat and a lemony taste reminiscent of the juice found in those plastic lemons. The sourness in the taste grows and grows, as does my disappointment in this beer.

Mouthfeel: Thin-bodied. Lightly carbonated.

Drinkability: Skip it.
Oct 05, 2007
Photo of wagenvolks
Reviewed by wagenvolks from Texas

3.08/5  rDev +1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A very filtered, clear straw-brown pour is produced. A decent-sized tan head builds before disappearing almost completely. The aroma has in it some orgaic grainy notes, a bit of grapefruit, and some spice. Hard to pin down, let alone detect the aroma in this one.

The taste is a bitter-ish one with notes of wheat, barley, and other grains, as well as a bit of sweet caramel after the carbonation subsides. Nothing to write home about. Mouthfeel is smooth and unoffensive, with and uber-light body and a decent finish. This is not a great beer by any stretch of the word, but it is easy to drink and refreshing in the heat of the summer.
Jul 29, 2007
Photo of wcudwight
Reviewed by wcudwight from North Carolina

3.35/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pale gold in color. NO head or lacing to speak of. Carbonation bubbles rise to the top. Some setiment floats around. I thought this was supposed to be a filtered wheat.
Not much going on in the nose. Some sweetness and fruitiness. Also some butter, but you have to sniff really hard to find the aromas.
Flavor is pretty good. Sour apple, citrus, lemon, pear all with a grainy back bone that works real well giving the beer a sharpness or edgy feeling that I really like.
Mouthfeel is light bodied but that's what I'd expect in a pale wheat.
It's a decent summer time quaffer that would be better that a typical macro. I could see myself drinking this after a day of waving a stick with a fly at the end of it in the Yellowstone river.
Again I like the label art from this brewery with it's flyfishing theme and the name of the beer which was mentioned in another review.
Jul 11, 2007
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

2.32/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2
Corn muffin gold with perfect clarity. Yellowstone Valley filters Grizzly Wulff since they've patterned it after 'an Austrian Kristall Weizen'. My guess is that it's much closer to a filtered American pale wheat, but we'll see. The off-white cap has a poor quality texture, deflates too quickly and leaves no lace behind.

The nose is incredibly simple. Maybe removing the yeast wasn't such a great idea after all. It's untoasted pale malty, minimally sour and doesn't give up even a hint of the Cascade hops. While it isn't unpleasant, it doesn't smell much like the stated style. It doesn't smell like a kristal weizen either.

Grizzly Wulff is much more sour on the palate. I'm not talking about that wheaty tang present in APWAs and hefe weizens, I'm talking about lemon juice sour and puckery. It almost tastes acetic as well, as if a small quanity of vinegar was added. I guess they wanted the beer to taste this way since it doesn't strike me as old or infected. Hard to figure.

Despite the brewery bragging about the higher than usual starting gravity, the mouthfeel is nothing to shout about. It's much closer to light than to medium, although it does hang on through the finish. A few more bubbles would have helped.

Grizzly Wulff Wheat is named after the Grizzly Wulff Dry Fly (depicted on the label), which was invented by a man named Lee Wulff. Unfortunately, that's the most exciting thing about the beer. It isn't much of an 'Austrian Kristall Weizen'. Hell, it isn't even much of an American pale wheat. I sure hope the rest of Yellowstone Valley Brewing Company's lineup is more accomplished, because I'm not about to bite on this one again.
Mar 16, 2007
Photo of loren01
Reviewed by loren01 from Washington

3.39/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
A: Appearance is really not impressive to me. Pours a light golden color, slight whitish head.
S: Smell is yeasty with fruity scents. Fruit smells include banana/pear.
T: Good flavor, mostly same as smell. Sweet fruity taste. Banana, pear, perhaps a citrusy taste as well
M: Good creamy mouthfeel
D: I think what throws people with this beer is the appearance to it, looks like a miller lite. Maybe I'm a little partial cause this brewery is my regular hangout but, I do enjoy the smell and taste of this beer. Probably my least favorite beer from this brewery, but not a bad beer in my opinion.
May 07, 2006
Photo of Jredner
Reviewed by Jredner from Florida

2.8/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
The aroma offers wheat malt and some musty grains and scant else to entice the drinker.

Pale gold in color with a quickly diminishing , pinky thin, white head.

Fore is light and crisp with carbonation. Malty and even slightly bready. Extremely low intensity bannana notes, but overall not a whole lot of flavor which makes the beer quite unmemorable.
Apr 07, 2006
Photo of mentor
Reviewed by mentor from Colorado

2.25/5  rDev -26.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
Bottle obtained from a local liquor store and consumed a couple evenings later in August 2005. Pours a two finger white tan head over a cloudy peach yellow/orange liquid (the yeast were dumped into the glass). Smells pine-sol citrusy hops with some apricot and caramel. Tastes potently green apple sour with pineapple, citrus, pine, and a spicy zing. The sour has a perfumy candle character about it. Can't tell if there is any hop bitter or clove because the sour is so potent. Wet sweet with a tart finish. Moderate acrid carbonation forms tiny stingers on my tongue, but the head is completely gone. By appearance, this could be a flat two-day old beer.
Aug 10, 2005
Grizzly Wulff Wheat from Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 75 out of 100 with 27 ratings