Windansea Wheat Hefeweizen - Karl Strauss Brewing Company

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