Reserve Wheat Ale
Telegraph Brewing Company

Reserve Wheat AleReserve Wheat Ale
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From:
Telegraph Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
Berliner Weisse
ABV:
5%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.94 | pDev: 10.41%
Reviews:
86
Ratings:
182
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 05, 2017
Added:
Feb 22, 2009
Wants:
  42
Gots:
  30
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of BEERchitect
Reviewed by BEERchitect from Kentucky

4.06/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
They sure don't make wheat beer like they used to. ...Or do they? Behind the historical regard for Norther German wheat ale the creative prowess of Telegraph Brewing Company, what's old is now new again.

Pale, lemony yellow and cast with a fine matte haze, their Reserve Wheat Ale strikes the senses with the tangy, tart scent of dry French cider and racy champagne. With hints of citrus, weathered woods and a vinous spice tingling the nose, the wheat malt rolls onto the tongue with a light breadiness, sweetness and roundness to suggest lemon meringue and fresh sourdough.

The middle palate is quickly awash in the beer's brisk acidity and as the malt sweetness begins to loosen its grip. Crabapple, lemon and a hint of lime come first while a taste of oak aged chardonnay trail closely behind. White pepper and oak and faint leather trail into a playful sourness that's laced with verbena, sassafras and a light suggestion of mint.

Low in bitterness, this "champagne of the north" bounces off of the tongue with the beer's excitable carbonation, keeping the session light, airy and highly refreshing. Its clean and crisp sourness allows for one final echo of wheat to return in a brief retro olfactory action along with an earthen after palate of burlap.
Dec 05, 2017
Photo of MutuelsMark
Reviewed by MutuelsMark from Kentucky

4.4/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours with a BURST of bubbles that leaves no head whatsoever. The color is like honey. Nose smells of deep wheat and, wait for it.....beer with a bit of bitterness. The taste has a hit of sour that fades quickly to a clean taste. Very drinkable.
Nov 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.63 by brianmandell from California

Jun 20, 2017
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

4.06/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Appearance: Arrives at the bar a hazy honey color with a very modest head; not much retention or lacing

Smell: A little lactic, with lemon verbena tones and a hint of funk

Taste: Lactic lemon verbena flavors forward, though not particularly tart; some earthy funk through the middle and, surprisingly, some sweetness in the finish

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with low carbonation

Overall: A bit under-carbonated but otherwise rather enjoyable
Feb 27, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by Switz160 from Illinois

Feb 18, 2017
 
Rated: 4.18 by dannycohen62 from Illinois

Nov 30, 2016
 
Rated: 4.26 by dleiner from New York

Jul 30, 2016
 
Rated: 3.56 by VashonGuy from Washington

Apr 15, 2016
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

4.03/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
On tap at The Old Toad in Rochester, NY.

This pours a slightly hazy bright yellow, with a half inch head, and a bit of lacing.

This one smells like tart but slightly sweet lemon, sour wheat, and maybe a little bit of vanilla.

This is a nice little Berliner, flies under the radar a bit. There's some nice wheaty sourness and funk here, with the lemon verbena contributing a more earthy lemon flavor than the actual fruit would. It's got a nice subtlety to it that allows for high drinkability.

This is light bodied, with a juicy and creamy mouthfeel, and a normal level of carbonation

A cool little Berliner here, and I think my first beer from this brewery. I'd like to try more.
Apr 07, 2016
Photo of zotzot
Rated by zotzot from Vermont

3.52/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Too fruity and fizzy to be serious
Mar 15, 2016
 
Rated: 4.4 by Vylo from New Jersey

Jan 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.85 by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

Dec 25, 2015
 
Rated: 3.98 by wethorseblanket from California

Dec 10, 2015
 
Rated: 3.76 by Honeybourne from Scotland

Nov 09, 2015
 
Rated: 4.05 by Nightrain87 from California

Oct 27, 2015
 
 
Rated: 3.96 by pluto901 from Illinois

Sep 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.96 by BigEast55 from New York

Sep 20, 2015
Photo of farrago
Reviewed by farrago from New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Gives you an easy two fingers on the pout but the head is so loose and openly knit that you can watch it sizzle down to nothing in a few seconds, slightly cream white color, hardly any lacing to speak of. Translucent haze in the glass, copper orange hued liquid, more bright yellow at the rims, any bubbles are widely dispersed and on the sluggish side. The nose is crisp but not piercing, clear emphasis on the lemon citrus and leafy green matter, the wheat is on the unprocessed side, more grain than bread, while there is a minerally or quinine element it remains clean and not intentionally “dirty,” light clove as in uncooked or unused, the fruit scents are mainly green apple, pear and peach pit, texturally it is soaks in unevenly which actually helps you notice it more. In the mouth it’s light-bodied, more tart than overtly sour, with a puckering acidic character. The carbonation provides a light prickle at best, mild fizziness through the finish. Here the metallic earthiness is more assertive and puts tang in the lemon to lighter orange citrus flavoring. The raw grains are hard to parse out, same for the pre-powdered spices. While you get the same green apple, apricot to peach pit/skin fruit there’s something which reaches for tropical, like star fruit or persimmon. Its unwillingness to go full bore in any one regard both its strength and weakness.
Aug 04, 2015
 
Rated: 3.69 by joe_sf from California

Jul 19, 2015
Reserve Wheat Ale from Telegraph Brewing Company
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 182 ratings