Windansea Wheat Hefeweizen - Karl Strauss Brewing Company

Floydster

California

3.1/5  rDev -11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Pint from the PB Tap Room a couple days ago for four dollars

Been meaning to try this for quite some time now but surprisingly I do not see it many places and it is not available in bottles as far as I know

Color was a medium orange yellow with a very murky body, 3/4 inch creamy white head, some nice retention, minimal lacing

Smell was all over the place but not bad, wheat, citrus, bananas, butter, sweet malt, faint bready aromas, and lots of vanilla

Taste had lots of citrus from the beginning, chewy wheat aftertaste followed by an immediate sweetness, everything in the smell seemed to show up in the taste as well, weird vanilla and banana flavors once it warmed that made it pretty hard to drink, definitely one of the sweeter hefeweizens I have tasted, needed some of that famous Karl Strauss hoppiness to balance some of the sweet tastes out

Body was super thick for a hef, not as much carbonation as would think either, taste did last long and there was a noticeably sweet mouthfeel

Could not drink much of this stuff and I cannot say that about many wheat beers out there, just too sweet and tiresome after a while, the ABV is low but it is heavy and thick, maybe another pint maximum if I had not drank anything else at that sitting

Definitely not my favorite Karl Strauss beer, not too upset that this is a draft only brew, probably would not drink again, think it would be probably be even worse in the summer with the sweetness and the heat, not a session beer like many other beers of this style

Serving type: on-tap

01-22-2008 08:01:40 | More by Floydster

brentk56

North Carolina

3.15/5  rDev -10%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a very murky honey color with a head that fades quickly without leaving a trace

Smell: Green banana, vanilla cream, artificial sweetener and a hint of clove

Taste: Wheat bread with mashed green banana, up front, with a building sense of vanilla cream that overwhelms, in the middle; the clove adds a bit of spice, after the swallow, but the finish is very very sweet

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: I was expecting more of an American Wheat so it was interesting that the beer turned out to be a Hefe; but still, this is well off the mark of the better examples of the style

Thanks, cocoapuph, for the opportunity

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2012 21:41:49 | More by brentk56

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.4/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On draught at Islands restaurant in Huntington Beach, served with a lemon. The beer is a hazy yellow-gold color with a thin white head that dissipates quickly. Spotty lacing. Wheat, bananas and clove in the nose. Medium, clean body with wheat, tropical fruit and sweet spice flavors. The finish is fruity with a lingering wheaty aftertaste. Above average overall.

Serving type: on-tap

12-19-2007 20:41:56 | More by Dogbrick

GarthDanielson

New Hampshire

3.4/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured on-tap in downtown San Diego at the Columbia Street brewpub. The beer was poured into a pint glass with a cloudy yellow color and no head. The beer is almost completely opaque, being the epitome of unfiltered. The beer is banana and sweet on the nose. The flavors lean more towards nut, with hints of banana. There are also vanilla undertones, with a clove emphasis on the finish. Sharp and bitter notes to the aftertaste, and the complexity and transition of flavors at the end of the beer affect the drinkability. Not a smooth, easy beer like most Hefs.

Serving type: on-tap

01-08-2011 08:26:05 | More by GarthDanielson

oggg

California

3.43/5  rDev -2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Part of a 6 beer sampler

"An unfiltered SoCal-style wheat beer. Not your average American hefeweizen!" 3 srm 15 ibu 3.5 body

so it says on the Karl Strauss website. I can buy that it is more in the hefeweizen style as opposed to an American-style wheat ale. The name Wheat Hefeweizen is pretty annoying though. And what is SoCal style?

This beer pours a nice hazy full yellow. Minimal head due to sample size. This beer actually has a decently apparent, sweet aroma. I get a decent amount of banana and spiciness with no hop bitterness. Nice wheaty taste and feel. Refreshing and light. Good for newbies. Somewhere in the middle range for wheats that I've tasted.

Serving type: on-tap

03-15-2004 06:02:49 | More by oggg

Halcyondays

California

3.43/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. bottle,

A: Pours a hazy goldenrod with a medium white head, some lace.

S: Banana notes, cream, bubblegum.

T: Lemon and banana, with some definite wheat malt flavour. By the books, to style.

M: Light-bodied, crisp carbonation, creamy feel overall.

O: A solid American hefe, and actually has some solid yeast flavours. A good local beer for the summer, the first time I've seen it in stores.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2012 01:29:23 | More by Halcyondays

ehammond1

California

3.48/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

On Tap

Karl Strauss Brewing Company
Carlsbad, CA

Mildly hazy golden orange and yellow with a minimal white head that leaves spots of lacing down the glass.

A mild aroma consisting of some banana and clove, a touch of vanilla, and lots of wheat bread.

The taste follows the aroma. This is a bready hefeweizen, and while not at all bad, again there's simply not a lot here. There's a faint banana and clove character, but it's all very mild and far-away.

Medium to thick bodied with low carbonation. Strange per the style.

An above average hefeweizen, but there will usually always be better options than this. It needed a thinner body and a lot more carbonation.

Serving type: on-tap

11-08-2011 03:13:59 | More by ehammond1

Jason

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz brown bottle with no freshness date.

LOOK: Pale beige amber cloudiness, ok lacing

SMELL: Powdered clove, banana taffy, chalky yeast, bready, vague ripe fruit

TASTE: Crisp, slick, wheat, faint twang, soft lemon, spicy, bread crust, green banana, mild esters, yeasty, semi-dry finish

A decent stab at the style, really hard to compare to the originals or even US brewers that nail the style. Not so far off that mark so it is still worth a go.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2012 01:02:52 | More by Jason

UCLABrewN84

California

3.48/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a murky yellow with a 1/2 inch foamy bone colored head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of wheat, grain, spice, banana, and slight bubblegum. There is a slight vegetal aroma that I am picking up on as well. Taste is much the same with a grain and spice aftertaste. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer and definitely drinkable for what it is, but I am not too sure I would go after this one again.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2012 02:39:04 | More by UCLABrewN84

ArrogantB

Colorado

3.48/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

On tap at the downtown Karl Strauss location. Hazy, cloudy yellow like a witbier usually does. Yeasty aroma with some wheat. Flavor was all banana, overpowering. No bubblegum unless someone makes banana flavored bubblegum. It wasn't gross but I wouldn't buy it.

Serving type: on-tap

05-03-2013 21:18:36 | More by ArrogantB

rawfish

California

3.69/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a cloudy banana hue with huge head, four fingers if poured too vigorously. Decent retention and a slight lacing that slips down towards the liquid.

Banana, clove, heavy yeast, generic hefe aroma but this beer absolutely flaunts it and keeps down the grain and cereal malt aromas. It even delivers a bit of lemon and grass hops, hmmm.

Big carbonation is getting in the way of the nice banana, and clove spices leaving just enough to mingle with some cereal grain, lemony wheat and powder in the finish. Really good profile, the carbonation starts to fade as the beer warms.

Carbonation bomb, the first few sips I felt as though I was missing half the flavor after fighting through all the bubbles. Other than being grossly overcarbonated the body is lighter than it looks and is easier to drink the longer the beer sits.

All in all I was surprised by this beer, it has all the makings of a good hefe in flavor and bouquet. If it could just tone down the carbonation a bit this could be alot better.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2013 03:31:45 | More by rawfish

DoubleJ

California

3.7/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Karl Strauss gets the call. From a 12 ounce bottle, on to the beer:

Not much head is formed on top of this bright yellow, almost goldenrod colored beer. It's cloudy, with head retention which is below average and is just a small lace. But the nose is very promising. It's big on banana, offers some good wheat notes, a pleasant baking spice, and good yeast.

Pleasant banana bread flavor upfront. There's some lemon and unitty yeast going on as well. The taste isn't far off from a "4"., it's that close. Light bodied, crisp, and easy to drink. All this makes Windansea Wheat a good (and underrated) beer to drink.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2012 04:51:33 | More by DoubleJ

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.88/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured a cloudy deep yellow with a nice white head. I must say...this beer looked really good. Nose is banana, wheat and not much else. Taste was mostly banana and wheat. I could not really detect any clove here. Sordove astringent on the end of the beer, taste begins to die but this beer is still good and very drinkable

Serving type: on-tap

05-27-2009 00:40:17 | More by barleywinefiend

magictrokini

California

3.9/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Tap Downtown. A very nice hefe. Pours a cloudy gold with a thick white head. Nice strong aroma of banana, clove, and wheat. The taste follows through big time. Great balance, with both the clove and banana yeast esters shining on their own. A nice lemony finish.

Serving type: on-tap

12-10-2008 17:07:36 | More by magictrokini

Eriktheipaman

Virginia

4/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a cloudy yellow with orange hue. Nice fluffy head.

The smell was mainly of banana with a slight spice as well.

The taste was on par with the smell except with a little more lemon zest and less is no clove.

I had this beer at California Pizza Kitchen and I'm glad because my pizza was so spicy a sip of this hefe took the heat right off. A better pairing than I could ask for.

Serving type: on-tap

04-29-2011 16:30:42 | More by Eriktheipaman

mactrail

California

4.05/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Orange flavor is the standout. Sweet and rich. Spicy but less flavor than most Hefeweizens. Nice nose, very fragrant with spicy wheat esters. Pleasant cloudy amber in the tall glass.

I thought this was very nice for a first beer of the evening. Clean, plenty of flavor, quite malty. It's not the classic German style but so much better than many awful American wheat beers I have to give it some credit. Enjoyed at the Tap Room in Pacific Beach.

Serving type: on-tap

08-25-2011 04:56:00 | More by mactrail

alleykatking

Indiana

4.15/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had on tap.

A- Pours a cloudy golden yellow color. Half finger white head that dies rather quickly. Some light lacing left on the glass as I drink it down.

S- This one stayed pretty close I might say. Nice banana and clove all over the nose. There was some light wheaty bready notes sprinkled in a citrus overtone. Nothing over the top but enough to make you want to taste it.

T- Light bready wheat upfront to this. The middle had the banana and clove shine through. Light citrus and more wheaty notes on the backend. Pretty straight forward to what the aroma was. No off flavors that I have seen other people talk about.

M- Medium mouthfeel. Carbonation was a little off I thought. Wheat and citrus left on the palate with some banana and clove in the ending mixed with a sweet alcohol. Flavors were balanced I thought for the style. Light drying on the palate.

D- This was a very drinkable Hefe. Not the best I have tried by far but this one made me go back for more. A nice summertime beer that even BMC drinkers could sink their teeth and pocketbooks into.

Serving type: on-tap

09-08-2010 23:05:20 | More by alleykatking

robotfeet

California

4.72/5  rDev +34.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

When I read the other reviews on this beer I felt that I had a duty to perform. I have had a lot of different hefe's before: Bavarian, American, etc., and this is my favorite one so far. The beer is the cloudiest hefe I have ever seen. It is a light yellow/orange color. The smell is sweet. The taste has hints of banana and vanilla. The beer is only lightly carbonated and therefore has little head. The traditional way of drinking a hefe is with a lemon, but this one is great with or without. Everyone has different tastes and I am only sharing mine. However, if you have never had this beer before, I think it is at least worth trying.

Serving type: on-tap

05-21-2008 01:06:49 | More by robotfeet