Bell's Winter White Ale - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

dnrobert24

Alabama

4.63/5  rDev +26.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

My typical standard of measurement for wit beers is Hoegaarden. Bell's Winter White might be my new standard. First off, I love that they used the white winter theme to brew a beer like this out of season. Typically, wheat beers can only be found fresh during the summer. It is nice to know you can find one light and refreshing in the winter too as a six-month old wit beer sipped in January would almost certainly be stale. Not this--it had a crisp clean freshness that comes only from hefty doses of wheat played against the musty phenols of the belgian yeast. I could not smell or taste any orange or coriander, lemon or lemongrass, just nice round full bready yeast. Even the color was pale yellow, though not as white as Hoegaarden. It did not feel overly fizzy or thin, as can sometimes be the case for this style. Excellent drinker. High marks all around.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2011 15:56:30 | More by dnrobert24

oracle

Indiana

4.68/5  rDev +27.9%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

12 oz bottle served in a tall pilsner style glass

This has long been one of my favorite beers to get growlered. I'm very glad to see it in bottles finally.

Like many other wheat beers, this is one where you want to swirl that last half ounce around in the bottle before you pour it into the glass. It picks up the sediment from the bottle, which enhances the flavor dramatically.

Beer poured a very cloudy golden/yellow with 2 inch bubbly sticky head. Like most wheat beers I've tried, the head left very little to no lacing.

Smell was wonderful. golden ripe banana and warm bread.

Taste was very clean and simply delicious. ripe bananas and sweet apple. Strong yeast characteristics.

Mouthfeel was good. Minimal carbonation. This beer feels light and airy on the tounge.

Still one of my all time favorites.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2004 15:17:09 | More by oracle

Sudmissle

Michigan

4.85/5  rDev +32.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer is probably misnamed. I found it to be a direct competitor with the finest German wheat beers such as Paulaner and Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbiers. I was told the same thing as another reviewer about the Bell's folks being concerned it would compete to closely with Oberon. Oberon is a starter kit for people about a year away from sampling German-style wheat beers. This beer has the wonderful banana and yeast flavor of the best German Weissbiers and is the best American Microbrew version of this style I have sampled. I wish this was readily available in bottles!

Serving type: on-tap

09-12-2003 02:31:49 | More by Sudmissle