Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

tectactoe

Michigan

2.28/5  rDev -27.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2

Had in a bottle long before I was "into" craft beer. Had it again on tap once I entered the craft realm. Pours a wheaty, sunburst orange color, considerably hazy and basically perfectly opaque in the mid-section of the brew. Slightly off-white head is sparkly and foamy and recedes relatively quick leaving some mild lacing behind. The aroma is cherry. That's it. That's all. Just cherries. I mean, I could sit here and tell you "it has some wheat in the background", because it does, but you have to search so hard for it beneath the cherry blanket that by that point it isn't worth it anymore. The cherries smell sweet, tart, and actually a little medicinally cloying. Weird combination, right? I can't decide if this aroma is good or bad - but the fact that I must ask myself that question tells me it's probably the latter.

It hits my palate, medium bodied and heavily carbonated. And that's where shit hits the fan. WOW, the cherry presence is not only overwhelming, but it's basically the only thing you can taste. And as mentioned for the aroma, it's not a very "good" cherry perspective. Hints of the profile taste natural and real - some tartness and sweetness that couldn't be mistaken for anything but fresh cherries. However, it's like the brewers decided that it wasn't enough, and they took it a step further and added a butt-load of extra, artificial cherry flavor to push the flavor envelope of the max. Chalky, medicinal, vitamin-like. It's like, tart cherry cough syrup. Or a sweeter version of a cherry flavored Flintstones vitamin. Aftertaste has a slaughtered wheat profile, still majorly enveloped by the cherry onslaught.

Buuuh. Save yourself the trouble with this one. The cherry is just way too overdone and overpowering, nearly to the point of being undrinkable. And it's not the "fruit-lambic" kind of cherry. It's more of a "take your medicine" kind of cherry. Definitely not for me.

Serving type: on-tap

01-24-2013 17:22:19 | More by tectactoe

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