Weekapaug Gruit Ale - Cambridge Brewing Company

3leggeddub

Massachusetts

5/5  rDev +33%

11-23-2011 03:37:39 | More by 3leggeddub

shehateme

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

05-05-2013 03:08:35 | More by shehateme

In_Control_Mike

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

05-05-2013 03:02:24 | More by In_Control_Mike

SirHefeweizen

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -20.2%

03-19-2013 05:31:02 | More by SirHefeweizen

outoffocus

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +6.4%

03-18-2013 01:34:27 | More by outoffocus

ryanov

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -20.2%

03-16-2013 19:20:23 | More by ryanov

MAbeerNE1

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

03-14-2013 19:11:59 | More by MAbeerNE1

kinopio

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +6.4%

02-01-2013 20:08:21 | More by kinopio

aorloski

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

01-18-2013 14:27:01 | More by aorloski

ryan1788a5

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

22oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Pours a murky and muddy light brown color. One inch of off-white head doesn't retain well. Specs of lacing here and there.

S: Crusty bread, thick molasses, slight cola, cocoa, slight soured fruity scent. Herbal backing of rosemary and other non-identifiable herbs.

T: Cola, slight brown sugar, hint of molasses. The herbs ride alongside the faint malt tastes and have a soft, perfumey taste rather than a strong, bitter presence. Ghost-like sour cherries in the background. Slight grape skin. Finishes with light herbal notes and a fading malt taste.

M: On the thinner side of medium bodied. Slight creaminess, but a little on the watery side. Low carbonation.

O: This is my first experience with a gruit, so I didn't quite know what to expect. This one seems to be lacking a little something though. It's a little thin in body and in malt flavor. I'll admit that I hung onto this one for a bit longer than I should have. It tastes a little soured. Gotta wonder what the shelf life is on this without any hops to act as a preservative.

Serving type: bottle

11-15-2012 22:13:47 | More by ryan1788a5

MNBeerNE

3.5/5  rDev -6.9%

11-10-2012 14:35:34 | More by MNBeerNE

sammy806

Maryland

2.5/5  rDev -33.5%

10-18-2012 22:00:49 | More by sammy806

OriolesFan1008

Maryland

1.5/5  rDev -60.1%

10-18-2012 14:08:13 | More by OriolesFan1008

Prost76

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%

10-07-2012 14:17:41 | More by Prost76

PEBKAC

New York

3.25/5  rDev -13.6%

10-03-2012 05:30:35 | More by PEBKAC

trxxpaxxs

New York

4.25/5  rDev +13%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Big thanks to manversusbeer for this one...

A: Pours a great shade of cloudy redish brown with about a half finger of light tan head that fades quickly. The foam settles into a tiny ring around the edges of the glass. There is no lacing as it drinks.

S: The nose is sweet and spicy. It's like herbal tea, basil, and peppercorns. There is an underlying malt/caramel note that comes through as it warms.

T: This beer is sweet to start, with what is reminiscent of apple cider. I get a nice caramel and apple mix before the spices begin to take charge. In the middle I get basil, peppercorns, herbal tea, and camomille. The finish is back to sweet, but the spices stick around and mix well. Solid.

M: Medium bodied beer. The carbonation is low on this beer and the mouthfeel is a bit syrupy. The flavors are bright, and it transitions well on the palate. This is an easy drinking beer.

O: I really enjoyed this CBC offering. I'm glad they decided to bottle an odd stye that can stand on it's own accord. I'd drink this again.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2012 20:40:25 | More by trxxpaxxs

Levich

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I opened up a 22oz bottle from batch No 1 bottled in April 2012 and poured it into a pint glass. Not sure how it was stored as I just picked it up yesterday.

It pours up a rich brown color with a light head. It continues to give off fizzy effervescence leaving just a ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.

The smell is sweet and fruity. It has distinct apple smells as well as the herbal aromas that are slightly medicinal.

The flavor is very mild at first, but it builds as the experience goes on. The herbal notes, barely noticeable at first, become increasingly more prevalent with every sip. There is almost no malty background, just herbal flavors that create a mild bitterness. The medicinal aroma translates to the taste, but there is a very mild acidic sourness that kind of balances it out.

It has a thin mouthfeel with lots of bubbles which is quite refreshing.

Overall, I like this beer. It falls a little flat , but I am not well sampled in Gruits and as such have little to compare it to. That being said, I would try this again, maybe after trying a few others.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2012 22:34:46 | More by Levich

bluerabbit

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +6.4%

09-10-2012 02:41:59 | More by bluerabbit

ThePorterSorter

New York

3.93/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Listened to a few minutes of the groove to get myself into reviewing this beer...Thanks merc for grabbing this for me.
The beer pours a clear mahogany brown with a faint tan head that fades very quickly. The nose is very intensely herbal with the wild rosemary taking over my olfactory. The taste is a little off the beaten path with earthy, slightly metallic, herbal flavors shining though and almost no bitterness at all. It's kind of off putting at first, but becomes enjoyable. I would compare it to drinking the runoff from farm land at first...And despite the beer's modest abv, it's still a sipper due to the raw herbal madness that defines this beer's flavor and aroma. It could have used a bit more of a yeast, sweetness, and body.
Overall you need to be prepared for a legitimate gruit with a huge herbal forefront untamed by sweetness, bitterness, or alcohol. Definitely an interesting beverage, although I'm not sure I'd try it again.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2012 02:48:57 | More by ThePorterSorter

Eddxii

Florida

3.68/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Weekapaug Gruit pours a muddy dark amber color with extremely light lacing. It has a heavily herbal aroma with traces of subtle sweetness. As you’d expect, it smells nothing like a beer. In fact it’s closer to ginger beer or root beer. The taste is thin, with a slight phenol aftertaste. The term that keeps coming to mind is “herbal tonic.” It’s beyond interesting…it has hints of complexity that are too fleeting for me to catch. I’ll chalk it up to my ignorance of gale and yarrow.

Weekapaug Gruit is hard to place. It’s not the best beer, but then again it’s not a beer in the sense that I’m used to. It’s not something I’d drink on a regular basis. However, it’s definitely a brew aficionados should try and I applaud Cambridge Brewing Company for bringing the style back into the light.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2012 20:36:30 | More by Eddxii

sholland119

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -20.2%

08-10-2012 18:33:10 | More by sholland119

kree

3/5  rDev -20.2%

08-10-2012 03:36:44 | More by kree

FosterJM

California

3.8/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

1398th Review on BA
Bottle to Pint
22oz

Batch 1- April 2012
Thanks to my RS guys Jlindros and RudZud for this one

App- A brown color with some creamy highlights. At 1st pour it was a 1/2" head, I blinked and it was gone. No lace or cling either.

Smell- Very malty and herbal. I noticed Pahn said mushrooms and thats kinda close to what I got but it was more medicinal and herby. The rosemary on the bottle was a good start but it went deep and I guess I dont know if the Yarow gives off a scent.

Taste- This is a tasty beer. I really enjoyed it. I could see the old scottsmans in the hills with a horn with this in it. Nice and light but still flavorful and balanced. Had a good caramel and rosemary flavor with some mixed herbs. Like drinking a garden.

Mouth- A light medium body with a light medium semi creamy carbonation. Semi-flat with a good residual herb flavor.

Drink- It was tasty. I like the heather ale a little bit better for the style but this was good.

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2012 18:07:08 | More by FosterJM

Pahn

New York

3.68/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22oz bottle into Duvel tulip.

Appearance: Free pour yields a tiny offwhite fizzy head that dissipates immediately. Pours a hazy brownish red orange. No lacing.

Smell: Mild Belgian yeast, and savory mushroom. Not very herbal. Smells mostly like cooked mushrooms.

I don't mind the smell, but it could have a lot more going on.

Taste: Sweet and tangy apple and herbal tea up front, leading to some breadiness and English tea, with a surprising umami finish. Finish is like roasted chicken (with the skin on, no less) with rosemary and mushrooms.

Complex and adventurous. If you're going for a gruit, you're probably looking for something new and unexpected. This beer delivers, and balances these strange flavors quite well.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. High carbonation. Bit puckering. Dry finish.

Overall: Good for what it is. Not something I'd like to drink a lot of, I admit.

As a vegetarian, it's kind of nice to taste roasted chicken again, I guess.

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2012 02:32:13 | More by Pahn

maximum12

Minnesota

3.2/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Thanks to ferillo for this odd-sounding beer. Only had one gruit to date & it sucked - I hope it was just the beer & not the style. Shall we find out? Split the 22 oz. bomber with my wife while watching Jason Bourne kill people. Always a good way to spend the night.

Pour is a deep red. Head quickly falls away to a whisper of nothing. Smells almost, but not quite, like a hefe - I get a little clove along with what I'll presume to be rosemary, very grassy. Nice.

Weekapaug Gruit pushes the weird into a new walk of life. One of few beers that my first impression is that the mouthfeel is a problem, there's a lack of carbonation that makes this heavy despite the session-like alcohol level. Distracting. Otherwise it's as promised, a stroll through the spice fields, heavy on the rosemary, with plenty of others that I'm not cool enough to ID. Tastes like a spice rack. Really heavy in the stomach. Eleven ounces is probably a bit too much.

Well, I was hopeful. First sip was great, but this wears out its welcome quickly. Pretty decent beer, & one that should definitely comes in smaller packages.

Serving type: bottle

06-28-2012 02:32:25 | More by maximum12