Snarling Badger Berliner Weisse - Grand Teton Brewing Co.

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

2.55/5  rDev -29%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

22 ounce bottle - $8.99 at Sam's Beer & More in Lexington, South Carolina.

Appearance: Dark golden body, moderately clouded, with a brief but unyielding, not-quite-fizzy, white head.

Smell: All of the wheat malt aroma you would expect from a big wheat beer, with notes of clove, sugar-laced bananas, florals, and tired lemons.

Taste: Sweet with plenty viscous, creamy malted wheat flavor. Slight perceived honey taste, with a growing banana character. Pinch of clove. Low citrusy hint. Lightly acidic, very little tartness -- not nearly enough to cut through the rich wheatiness (if it weren't for the carbonation, this would be even more of a mess). Closes out nearly as sweet and wheaty as it started.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium-high carbonation.

Overall: I cannot tell you h--actually, I suppose I can tell you. I was very excited to purchase a Berliner Weisse. I was very disappointed to learn it was anything but. For a few minutes I tried to pretend it was a Belgian golden ale loaded with wheat. No dice.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 13:32:25 | More by ChainGangGuy

leedorham

Washington

4.25/5  rDev +18.4%

05-01-2013 15:06:31 | More by leedorham

LuceScrew

Idaho

3.75/5  rDev +4.5%

04-27-2013 22:24:50 | More by LuceScrew

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.44/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

Had at a recent bottle share.

Slightly hazy golden-yellow pour, with a large, fizzy, white head that receded to a thin layer of bubbles, leaving some dissipating lacing on the glass. Quite wheaty in the nose, lemongrass, yeast. in the taste, lightly toasted wheat, grass, yeasty sourdough, light touches of lemon and under-ripe banana. Not amazingly flavorful or distinctive, but still pretty crisp and refreshing. Light-medium and fairly enjoyable, but I wouldn't exactly call it exemplary of the style. However, on drinkability alone, I wouldn't mind revisiting this one, preferably on a hot summer day.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 10:22:56 | More by Rifugium

jreindl

Wisconsin

3/5  rDev -16.4%

04-20-2013 13:28:02 | More by jreindl

sendbeer

Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +18.4%

04-08-2013 14:56:55 | More by sendbeer

Vitacca

Montana

3.75/5  rDev +4.5%

03-05-2013 02:36:12 | More by Vitacca

ngeunit1

California

4/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Slightly hazy golden-orange with a finger of frothy white head. Fades fairly slowly.

S - Sweet wheat and grainy malts, funky yeasts, sourness, lemon zest, tart green fruits, bit of oak.

T - Sweet grainy and wheat malts, funky yeasts, some tart green fruits, lemon zest, and some light oak and vanilla.

M - Medium-minus bodied with moderate carbonation. Smooth with a funky and tart finish.

D - Nicely balance berliner weiss. Could have used a bit more kick.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2013 07:13:46 | More by ngeunit1

Haybeerman

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev +4.5%

02-06-2013 23:44:51 | More by Haybeerman

sgttibbs

Kansas

4.25/5  rDev +18.4%

02-03-2013 01:30:40 | More by sgttibbs

ADTaber

South Carolina

3/5  rDev -16.4%

01-19-2013 02:45:54 | More by ADTaber

ESPNman

California

3.15/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Served into a large wine glass (hey, I need to do some dishes... don't judge me)

A - Pours a cloudy straw yellow, leaning slightly towards orange. Develops a nice finger of thick white head, great retention, solid lacing. Overall, the appearance of this beer is the best part of it.

S - Surprisingly sweet. Some hay, funk, and vague barnyard in there... but for the most part it's overwhelmed by fruity, almost artificial sweetness. Not much in the way of sourness that I'd expect from the style. Slight oak.

T - Once again, this wouldn't be too bad as a hefeweizen, but it's not supposed to be a hefe. Lots of Belgian yeast flavors, cloves and bananas present. A bit of tart and funk, and then that artificial sweetness from the nose.

M - Solid carbonation, but overly thick for the style. Not as refreshing and slightly tart as I'd like. The more it warms up, the more the mouthfeel seems to be a detractor from the beer as a whole.

O - Not a bad beer, but not something that I'd offer up as an exceptional example of the style. Too sweet, too boozy, and not enough tart. If they toned down the booze a bit and highlighted some of the good portions of the beer, this would make a solid hefeweizen.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 02:50:08 | More by ESPNman

beagle75

Iowa

3.2/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a half-pint chalice.

A: Hazy, medium golden color with one finger of off-white foam head. Light lacing remains on the glass and a few streams of fine bubbles rise in the column.

S: Bready at first, although fading to reveal more pure sourness and bright green apple fruit.

T: Begins off-dry, with fermented grain and almonds amidst very restrained generic tartness. There is an artificial sweetening trend during the middle to leave a bit of plastic to linger alongside a finish of bright acidic stone fruit.

M: Thin to medium viscosity, soft and slightly acidic on the palate, with moderate carbonation.

D/O: This beer struggles with a crisis of identity--it comes across like a Belgian strong golden ale that someone forgot to add the Belgian yeast to. It also reminds of Dogfish Head's line of generic strong ales. In either case, it seems less special for being a stronger version of a traditional style. Lesson hopefully learned, Grand Teton--just because you call it something on the label, doesn't make it so.

Note: The syrah barrel-aged version of this beer sampled at FoBAB was not just improved over the base beer, but truly made special.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2013 02:35:20 | More by beagle75

OtherShoe2

Massachusetts

3.1/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours cloudy medium orange with a big foamy head with nice clingy lace. Pretty beer.

Sweet fruit and an edge of tartness and wood in the nose. Berliner Weisse?

If tasted blind, I'd say this is more like a belgian pale ale. Some fruit, alcohol, wood, vanilla, funk, light sour, and some bitterness. In essence, a mess. Way too sweet to be a berliner weisse, but maybe this needs to lay down for a while. Still, uneven. Not undrinkable, but hardly what I would call a version of the style.

Medium bodied, needs better carbonation.

Not bad. Some wood and funk make this ok, but I'd never buy this again.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2012 00:03:03 | More by OtherShoe2

sweemzander

Illinois

2.95/5  rDev -17.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

750mL bottle poured into a tulip.

(A)- Pours a hazy golden yellow/orange color. Produced a really nice head of white froth. Solid retention behind it and some good lacing left behind.

(S)- A nicely tart lemon peel and subtle bits of wheat and biscuit. Ever so slightly sweet.

(T)- Its kind of like a cross between a pretty good hefeweizen with a little tartness. Stronger in the clove, wheat, and banana with a little tartness to it, so a tad different for the style, but not completely disappointing.

(M)- A crisp carbonation level. An ok balance for a hefe, but this is supposed to be a berliner weisse. The subtle tartness this has does help, but that quickly fades as it warms.

(O)- Overall, not quite fitting the style, but for a $8 750mL, its not too bad when berliner weisse's are not all the common to find. I enjoyed it, but it does fall short of the style itself.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2012 22:00:18 | More by sweemzander

THECPJ

Delaware

3.5/5  rDev -2.5%

12-06-2012 02:30:06 | More by THECPJ

Texasfan549

Texas

3.25/5  rDev -9.5%

11-25-2012 03:25:33 | More by Texasfan549

TreLey

4.25/5  rDev +18.4%

11-14-2012 03:23:46 | More by TreLey

sparx1100

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev +4.5%

11-14-2012 03:18:18 | More by sparx1100

BeerHunter76

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +4.5%

11-12-2012 02:57:23 | More by BeerHunter76

coz

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +18.4%

11-11-2012 06:37:36 | More by coz

mmilyko

Nevada

4/5  rDev +11.4%

11-06-2012 17:17:10 | More by mmilyko

Braseltonage

Missouri

3.65/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours deep golden straw. Lovely even haze, very effervescent with large bubbles. Thick white head which dissipates pretty quickly to a less than super clingy lacing.
Fresh lemon zest, some acidic notes. Pungent aroma, but having a hard time placing the specifics. Seems as though you can smell a little of the funkiness to come.
First sip starts out surprisingly sweet. Some nice grainy wheat character, bigger on the palate than might have expected. But then the pucker sneaks in. Quite pronounced lactic kick in the finish. Makes what seems like is going to be a much bigger beer dry out and quench at the end.
An interesting beer. Not sure if it nails being a true Berliner-weisse but I really enjoyed it.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2012 13:52:37 | More by Braseltonage

bsuedekum

Missouri

3.5/5  rDev -2.5%

11-06-2012 03:27:12 | More by bsuedekum

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poor execution. I would expect more of a sourness and lower abv from the style. Yeasty and some sour fruit aroma. Cloudy deep yellow. Boozy. Only a little tartness, should be fruity sourness or significant lactic. So-so drinkability.Medium mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2012 03:37:26 | More by northyorksammy