Mango Weizen - Northwest Brewing Company

Wetpaperbag

Washington

4/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I'm surprised that this isn't under the fruit/veggie beer category. So I will review this based on that and the American Pale Wheat Ale styles.

A- This looks like sparkling apple juice. The head is very short lived to just a white ring around the edge.

S- Interesting smells. The grainy wheat smell is coming through for sure. Coriander and nutmeg mixed with cotton candy, I know strange, but thats what I'm getting. It is definitely fruity.

T- The mango is there, but I personally could have done with more. I love mango and the mango sort of subtle. I like the wheat, but if they had gone the route of making it more like a German Hefe, then this would really be a winner. I think some of the clove and banana taste would compliment the mango very well. Still quite refreshing in its own right.

M- Good mouth feel, sometimes though it seems a bit heavy in the carbination department.

D- Easy to drink for sure, would make a great summer brew.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2009 02:07:10 | More by Wetpaperbag

lifeboyq

Washington

4.45/5  rDev +31.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

My personal local favorite offering from one of my two favorite local breweries. Joe, the co-founder of Laughing Buddha is still experimenting and working out the kinks with this beer but kudos to him and Chris for founding a brewery and consistently operating outside of the BJCP style guidelines of styles and creating a nice offering.

The Mangoweizen is a very nice mango offering that doesnt have the bland amerian hefeweizen taste. My guess is bc of they use 200 lbs of mangos per 500 gallons and use an English ale yeast which is much better than the crappy American ale yeast that most local breweries use. Recently they have been fining it and offering it as a crystalweisse but i hope they quit that and go back to leaving the true cloud that we all love in a weizen.

I keep this on tap in a corny keg that they refill for me and drink it in any of a few German Weisse Bier glasses that i have. It's tasty, smooth and insanely drinkable. It's my favorite domestic hefe offering and the mango isnt such a novelty that you cant session it.

Once they refine the kinks with head retention and fining and get the batches consistent, this beer should rate high. It's not going to ever review as high as some of the higher abv complex offerings, but I'd put it against any American hefe any day.

Serving type: on-tap

12-29-2008 02:40:48 | More by lifeboyq

RedDiamond

Oregon

3.88/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

First thought: it works. Given the concept of a mango flavored wheat beer, I wasn't sure it would. But the mango weizen does work, and it ain't shy on the mango. Mango dominates the aroma entirely and shapes the taste - not as an afterthought, but as a defining component. Crisp wheat elements are also notable.

Carbonation is adequate, but the beer lacks suds. It is heavily clouded in a color resembling a stormy peach nectar. A slight film of yeast remains at bottle's bottom.

Some beers emulate mango-like esters. This one has no need for emulation, as the mango is real. I imagine there might be lots of potential food pairings here, especially among the types of Indian food traditionally accompanied by chutney. The bottle's label perhaps suggests as much with its silhouetted images of elephants and the Taj Mahal.

Could stand greater effervescence and body, but the flavor is well targeted.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2008 06:43:34 | More by RedDiamond

HatTrick

Washington

3.58/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Pretty light orange, a little cloudy / hazy. A small amount of head that quickly disappears. Leaves very little lacing.

S: Wheaty, a little melon but not much. Smells a little fruity.

T: Tastes like a wheatbeer; a little bit of mango but not much, have to concentrate. Tastes banana, cloves, another fruit...maybe pears or cantalope. Flavors were a little too mild, felt like it was a little watered down.

M: Carbonated, girly. Went down pretty easy.

D: Could drink pretty easily but doesn't seem like an everyday type of beer. It is a fun beer. A fruity beer. Much easier than a few of the other beers LB produces. Overall, not too bad.

Serving type: on-tap

11-20-2008 04:11:34 | More by HatTrick

henrysunset

Washington

4.03/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

hazy orange colored brew with very little head. smell is sweet and sour, almost reminiscent of the dish. A tiny amount of malt and floral in the nose.

sweet and destinctively mango'y. It is actually dry for the fruitty flavor. A good fruit hefeweizen.

smooth, and quite drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2008 00:41:51 | More by henrysunset

AKBelgianBeast

Alaska

4/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks go out to a very patient Wetpaperbag for sending this rarity my way. Thanks Sac!

Pours a nice looking slightly hazy brown tinted orange. The head is suprisingly hard to produce, but pops up there with a quick high pour compensation. Head is fizzalicious and stark white. Recedes fairly quickly leaving almost no lace.

Nose is interesting. Smells very much like a wheatbeer, expectedly, but i am not picking up a lot of mango. What im assuming is the mango is in there however, with a very sweet melony scent, it just isnt jumping out too strong in the nose. Some slight pear in the nose as well. Melon flavors peek out more as this one warms up a bit.

Taste is much more complented by melon flavors. Not the type of mango taste i was expecting. It is more candy like and sharp than it is earthy and sweet. This flavor comes out strong in the early taste, but mellows into wheat flavors towards the finish. Would like a little bit more natural mango flavors here. What the Watermelon is in 21A, the mango is in this. That sounds bad, but i dont mean it to be, as the flavor is good, i just mean the manner in which it compliments the base beer. There is defenite wheat flavor in here, a good pale wheat base is provided. Some slight banana, minimal clove, and a slight bubblegum. This tastes like it could be a flavor in those "Fruit Stripe" gums with the zebra. But the wheat beer provides good body. The finish is nice and sharp, not too dry at all (a good thing here) and leaves a slight candy melon sweetness on the palate.

Mouthfeel is a bit overcarbonated, and somewhat thick, but all in all quite good, and pretty much where it should be for the style. A bit heavy and slick, but once again, all in all, well done.

Drinkability is the shining star in this one, as this could easily be drank is session. Long session. Wouldnt mind getting hamboned on these, and im pretty sure some lady friends wouldn't either, if you know what im getting at. Quite drinkable, near perfect if it wasnt for the slight overcarbonation.

Overall a very interesting brew, and one i would love to have local access to. This certainly blows 21A out of the water as far as "melon wheat" beers go. I like the subtelty of the melon flavor, and the fact that the base wheat beer is quite solid. This isnt anything particularly mind blowing, but what it is is original, fun, drinkable as hell, and a good one that could provide many fun nights of sessioning. A good brew.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2008 02:40:31 | More by AKBelgianBeast

ckeegan04

Texas

3.73/5  rDev +10%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - Golden brown with a thin fizzy white head that quickly fades away. Almost no lacing in the glass. Much darker in color than most weizens/pale wheats that I have sampled.

S - Somewhat fruity wheaty aroma. Very wheat ale like aroma with the slightest hint of a tart fruitiness. No discernable mango aroma.

T - Initially a very fruity taste with tropical fruit being the primary taste. Not sure I can pick out mango specifically. Almost Jolly Rancher like sweetness. A soft graininess underneath but the sweet fruits are overpowering. Almost artificially sweet.

M/D - Medium bodied and very crisp. Easy drinking but very sweet.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2008 22:38:10 | More by ckeegan04

froghop

Washington

3.65/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

pours a cloudy dark orange with a thin/minimal head, no lacing.

smell is of wheat, fruits, malt, and some citrus.

taste is crisp yet smooth, somewhat tart, light on the fruit, wheat, malt, touch of caramel, and a touch of caramel, ends a little dry, but still thirst quenching.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2008 02:29:42 | More by froghop