Portsmouth Winter Weizen - Portsmouth Brewery

GarthTaargus

New Hampshire

4.78/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A: 22 oz bottle w/ classic Portsmouth Brewery label w/ "Winter Weizen" hand-written in sharpie on the front. No freshness or bottling date. This beer pours with a towering creamy head, standing tall for awhile, then settling into a rocky yet igneous surface of at least 1/2 inch throughout. Beautiful cloudy golden color. Looks great.

S: Smells of freshly baked bread, ripe bananas, clove, and cinnamon. Like a loaf of banana bread.

T: First sip is bananas and spice, giving way to a strong wheat taste, finishes both buttery and cinnamon-fresh. The slightest tang. Tastes crisp with mild bittering hops paving the way for an oh-so smooth sweetness, but not cloying. This is like the best dessert ever.

M: Like drinking cumulonimbus clouds. A great body containing a light, delicate fizz with a slickness that keeps it sliding down the trap, begging you for another quaff. So luxurious and refreshing.

D: A perfect five for drinkability. You couldn't find a more drinkable beer. I could drink a gallon of this.

Notes: This is absolutely the best Weizen/Weizebock/Dunkelweizen I have ever had. Better than all the big name german ones, even. Kudos to Todd and Tyler for putting Portsmouth on the map, again. I wish this was a year-round brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2009 03:42:37 | More by GarthTaargus

gford217

Georgia

4.38/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bomber shared by glid02.

Pours a cloudy golden orange with a sizable white head that showed good retention and left only a trace of lacing.

The aroma has the typical Belgian yeast aroma of bubble gum and bananas with some cloves as well. Faint hints of hops and a light fruity sweetness.

The taste amps up the sweetness with the same bananas and light fruit as the aroma. There is hop kick up front with some apples and pears in the middle before some spices finish it off with a dry finish.

The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with lots of sticky sweetness.

I really enjoyed this one and it's very, very drinkable. Thanks to Gregg for sharing.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2009 04:18:33 | More by gford217

glid02

Georgia

4.43/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Tried this courtesy of Norica - thanks again!

Pours a hazy orange-copper color with a thin white head that dissipates into a wispy layer on top leaving some lacing.

Smells of light fruits - mostly bananas but with some hints of pears - with some light spices. The fruits smell fresher than most other weizens, i.e. they don't have as much underlying sweetness - I like this.

Tastes similar to how it smells. The spices are a bit more pronounced, but the fruits still run the show. Like the smell the fruit flavors don't have as much of an underlying sweetness as the average weizen. Again, I'm a fan.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a good thickness with soft carbonation that makes this beer go down smoothly.

Drinkability is very good. I could have more than a few of these at any time of year.

Overall this was a very tasty beer. The flavors are crisper than I've come to except from this family of beers, and needless to say I was impressed. Worth a shot, and thanks again for Norica for sending this one along!

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2009 22:54:22 | More by glid02

Norica

Massachusetts

4.63/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Poured into a weizen glass, appearance and lacing doesn't get any better. Aroma and finish of slight cloves, faint banana in the nose but predominantly bubblegum. This beer blows away any import dunkelweizen that you can find stateside, a true joy to drink. 7% and loaded with yumminess, a beer to drink all day/night long that doesn't B$#@*slap your palate and forget where you parked your car. If only other US brewers would pay more attention to similiar styles and doing them as well as this. I hope there is more left the next time I'm in Portsmouth. Cheers to great beers <7%!!!

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2009 05:53:27 | More by Norica

mountdew1

New Hampshire

3.78/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a weizen glass. Color was a golden amber, beer was very cloudy with small amounts of bubbles rising from the bottom. A very small thin foamy head disappeared quickly leaving a ring around the top. Aroma was strongly banana bread, and was slightly sweet with a dash of vanilla. Taste was slightly of banana bread, more bread than banana with a bit of sweet cloves. Also a bit of citrus hiding in there. Felt good in the mouth. Coated nicely, a bit of carbonation. Vey easy to drink. Worked pretty well for a style I usually associate with summer not winter.

Serving type: growler

12-06-2008 23:30:22 | More by mountdew1

corey0212

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Got the last bottle in the shop at The Portsmouth Brewery!!

Pours a hazed copper color, darker around the edges. Creamy white head diminishes, but stays with the beer for the duration. Smells like banana bread, and I'm loving that! There's clove in there, too. Crazy lingering banana flavor, spicy too. Nice creamy mouthfeel....this is just excellent!

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2008 23:02:39 | More by corey0212