Partly Sunny - Ithaca Beer Company

GarthDanielson

New Hampshire

3.38/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle into a tumbler pint, the beer is a copper-gold coloring with a filmy white coating. Aromas of toasted wheat, citrus sweet, and a touch of roasted herbs. Flavors are light and smooth, with a roasty and nutty backbone supporting some light spicing and lemony citrus blendings. Aftertaste is fruity sweet, with a grainy touch. The finish is a bit filmy and slightly lingering. Not bad.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2012 20:52:25 | More by GarthDanielson

cbutova

Massachusetts

2.55/5  rDev -26.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A- Partly cloudy light orange beer poured into a pint glass. Foamy white head forms to a nice three finger size but it only lasts for a minute or so. Tiny bubbly ring around the edges with a few clouds in the middle. Head disappears completely leaving no lace and a strange looking beverage.

S- Wheat/grain bomb, too much so it seems to dominate every whiff I get. I also get some lemon/citrus zest and just tiny yeast spice behind that.

T- Again, each sip brings with it a hefty dose of wheat bread crust. The citrus peel, floral, spicy, clove and yeast comes through more than the aroma. I get some sort of cardboard/corn hint as well, hard to describe (just super wheaty?).

MF- Light body with a somewhat watery feel. The carbonation is lower than I expected and seems off for the style. Slight bitterness.

Doesn't really do it for me in any way. The spices don't bring much flavor. The Witbier aspect of this is just not there. I just get a big flavor of wheat crust and some corn/cardboard thing going on when it comes down to it.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 01:22:46 | More by cbutova

ChrisPratz

3.33/5  rDev -4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a pale yellowish color with a slight haze to it with less then a fingers worth of head that dissipates to a very thin veil of lace across the top.

S: Aromas of wheat and light orange citrus coming thru with a very light hint of spice.

T: Lemon is the main characteristic here with light wheat and grain. Spice is very very faint, barely noticeable at all. Mild citrus bitterness at the end. If I had a lemon slice I would probably give it a 4.

M: Light carbonation works with the citrus flavors and theres a bit of dryness at the end.

O: Not a bad summer beer. Crisp and refreshing, def a nice summer brew.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2012 23:38:44 | More by ChrisPratz

Chickenhawk9932

Pennsylvania

3.48/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours yellowish orange with golden highlights. Is very cloudy with a bubbly white head - little retention.

Smells of wheat, bitter lemon, fresh citrus, and warm spice - bitter herb.

Bitter lemon and sweet orange make for a lively mouth feel. Whole grain wheat comes after as it finishes with a bitter herb/spice. Drinking this on a partly sunny, partly cloudy PA day.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2012 19:22:31 | More by Chickenhawk9932

bigflatsbeerman

New York

2.38/5  rDev -31.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Light golden color with a slight chill haze. Carbonation seem low in y glass.
Smell: I'm not sure what this smells like, but it is not too pleasant.
Taste: This was a huge surprise. I thought I had picked up 2 six packs of Ground Break Saison, but they changed regional beer over to Partly Sunny and I didn't notice. Quite a huge step down from Ground Break. This tastes like no other beer I ever had. It's not enjoyable which is a disappointment given it's from Ithaca a great regional brewery.
Overall: Sub par, I did not realize this was a wit beer until I logged into BA.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2012 00:27:04 | More by bigflatsbeerman

chefhatt

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

When i opened the bottle it exploded with carobnation. When I poured the beer, it has a hazy golden color body with a nice white head. The smell is of clove and other spices. The taste has a lot of spice going on, but mainly it is clove. This has a great mouth feel and overall a average beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2012 01:47:16 | More by chefhatt

tdm168

North Carolina

3.65/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

As soon as I opened the bottle, there was a ton of carbonation that poured out of the top of the bottle. When I poured it, it poured a hazy yellow with decent, soft white head that has good retention. The nose has notes of clove, yeast, and straw. The taste is clove, lemon, spice, yeast, white grapes, and very faint alcohol phenols. The mouthfeel is light bodied, moderately carbonated (in mouthfeel, not in pour), and very smooth.

Not bad, but hardly complex. This beer is a beginner's Wit. There's nothing offensive, but there are also elements of a decent wit. For those looking to get into the style, it's definitely worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2011 03:40:37 | More by tdm168

twiggamortis420

Texas

3.55/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle courtesy of RocPorterFanatic. Pours very hazed and has a massive, topographous white head. Awesome retention. This is an almost perfect looking wit.

Coriander is definitely there in the nose, as is a hefty wheat tang. Has a spritzy lemon character that is a bit different and gives it almost a sour-ish aroma. Interesting.

The lemony aspect is definitely big in the flavor as well and makes this one almost an american wheat/witbier hybrid flavor. The coriander is not very strong and the beer lacks the traditional 'soft' feel to it that most of the classic wits have. Still though, not bad and is fairly enjoyable to drink. As a proclaimed wit fiend, this was fun to try and has some unique characteristics, but ones enough for now.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2011 01:21:18 | More by twiggamortis420

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.05/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: A pale tangerine color is moderately hazy, with a strong waverly mist of micro-bubbles rising within. The capping is strong, 2 fingers, sea-shell white in color, with a frumpy, stryofoam like texture. The lacing is equally strong sticking well to the glass leaving a chunky, bready ring band about.

S: Pale oranges, wheat and a pretty good musky nature. Fairly simple, could use some sharpness as well coriander to spice things up.

T: sharp nature, pale oranges and wheat. No frills flavor that lacked a good spiciness (again coriander and a lemony touch would have been nice). Musky hops, some bitterness come on the close. Dry wheat base, mundane flavor and spicing.

M: Upfront crispness, very tight and well suited per style, but quickly turns to a washy feel after a few seconds. Bubbly, washy that loses credibility on the hold.

O: Besides a good visual nature the beer lacks in comparison to staple styles like hoegaarden. Lacks a good spicy nature, bite, with a fairly sloppy wheat base that comes off as ordinary as the spicing. Partly sunny is partly dull and overcast.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2011 22:50:31 | More by beerthulhu

micromaniac129

Pennsylvania

3.28/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a murky golden straw color. A vigorous pour produces a lite foamy head fading fast.

Aroma is mostly of corrinder and celery.

Taste is definitly corrinder dominated.

Tart and dry with an off aftertaste.

Blue moon or this beer, it's a hard choice.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2011 10:31:34 | More by micromaniac129

NODAK

Tennessee

3.73/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Aroma definitely carries a strong banana smell to it with some clove in there as well. It smells like a hefeweizen for sure, but it's categorized as a wit here. Taste should be interesting.

Taste is a tale of two halves. It starts out with a good banana presence, as was seen on the nose. No surprise there. However, halfway through the swallow it takes on somewhat of a tangy and tart citrus turn along with clove spiciness and a hint of wheat lingering in the background. Very highly carbonated. Dry in the finish.

Again, it does seem more of a hefe to me. I don't see much that would make me think this is a wit. However, for a hefe, it isn't half bad. The tartness was the part of the taste that wasn't my favorite but the rest was very solid.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2011 00:34:22 | More by NODAK

beerdrinker4life

Connecticut

3.83/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I got to try this on the way back from the fest. We picked up some rarer brews from upstate NY region.

This beer was a real nice drinkable treat. The beer poured with not that much head, but it lingered nicely. The taste was real clean, with a little bit of spice in the end. Overall, I liked it a lot, but it did not have enough character to really wow me.

It seemed to be dominated by spice and a little hops. Not much malt character at all.

I think this would be a great beer to just sip when you're not thinking about it, but I also feel its just a good beer to have on your side in the summer.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2011 19:56:08 | More by beerdrinker4life

rfgetz

New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a hazed yellow gold, small cap of white froth, gone quickly. Nice scent filled with citrus peel, tangy wheat and fragrant spices. Taste follows scent, surprised at how full the flavor profile is... lots of bitter citrus, fresh ground spice and tangy wheat malt, maybe a touch too strong for more then a pint at a time. Light bodied, bubbly. A full flavored wit with a lot of good going for it.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2011 14:06:23 | More by rfgetz

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

2.83/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - A very nice bubbly yellow with a half inch of creamy white head. Looks pretty good.

S - Expecting a bit of lemon, yest or maybe some spice I am greeted with a smell of sour apples and pears. Is this a Saison? Very weird indeed.

T - Ow wow full on Saison flavors which is kind of offputting since it's very tart. I get full on apple and pear with a touch of lingering hay and a nice bit of hops in the finish. Rating to style this is a complete fail.

M - Medium bodied was surprisingly harder to drink than I thought.

Overall I love their "Groundbreak Saison" but this is kind of a disaster. Rating to style? Terrible. Rating to likeness. Pretty lousy.

I would avoid this if expecting to get a succession-able witbier.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 02:04:20 | More by DrDemento456

DrinkingDrake

Massachusetts

3.35/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Partly sunny this beer is. Into my goblet a cloudy golden yellow with a big bubbly white head. Nose contains a lot of spice. Coriander, clove, slightly sour wheat and orange peel. Flavor is full of tangy lemon, orange and wheat. The spice quickly kicks in bringing out a lot of peppery yeast and coriander. It finishes with a crisp bitterness that dulls the spicy notes down and leaves a fruity finish. The body was light and crisp. Overall It's a decent beer but I thought the spicy middle was a little much.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2011 15:10:11 | More by DrinkingDrake

celticfutblclub

Massachusetts

3.53/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12oz poured into a pint glass

this comes out a light orange shade thats rather transparent (kinda surprising me as this is a witbier?). nice foamy head with big bubbles sits atop and comes down gradually. some lacing found in there. nose is cloves coriander lemon zest and a bit of bubblegum and orange peel as well. this is definitely more like it. taste is initially coriander and clove followed by a citrus burst that for an instant is orange peel and then quickly transitions into lemon zest. finishes off with a mild bubblegum taste. working semi-silently behind all this is a mild bread taste which doesnt balance the beer but does give a bit of a malt presence. intense carbonation on the front of the tongue coming from this one. overall this is a good beer and goes down easy on this particular hot day.

Serving type: bottle

07-20-2011 22:28:28 | More by celticfutblclub

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a larger 2+ finger fluffy head that fades semi quickly with some sticky lacing, over hazy banana yellow color.

Nose brings plenty of Belgian malts and wheats, light sweetness, plenty of wheat aromas, touch toasty malts, golden saison like spices are light but present, hints of banana and citrus.

taste starts fairly sweet, lots of citrus and banana and tons of wheat, light toasty malts, light overall but a fairly strong flavor, light saison spices, touch of clove, some bitterness comes through as it goes, gets a bit more bitter on the finish and fairly dry, a bit to heavy on the spices and sweet malts overall though.

Mouth is med to a bit lighter bodied, tons of carbonation.

Overall not bad, nice flvors but a bit heavier than expected for total spices and wheats, as well as sweetness, and a bit over carbonated, but a nice beer otherwise.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2011 18:18:52 | More by jlindros

erosier

Connecticut

3.13/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

L: Pouts an orange-yellow color with a tall white colored head that fades slowly and laces the glass nicely on the way down.
S: Smells of sweet wheat aromas, orange and lemon scents followed by coriander and maybe some other spices in there as well.
T: Tastes of sweet toasted wheat, some other sweet malts, sweet orange, tangy lemon, and then a nice coriander finish. Pretty decent mix of flavors.
M: Smooth, light-medium bodied, maybe some more carbonation would be good, but pretty refreshing nonetheless.
D: Overall a decent mix of flavors and feel, nice job on this.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2011 21:25:40 | More by erosier

atr2605

New York

3.45/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A- pours hazy soft yellow color with about 1 finger width head with nice retention
S-lemon, spices, some pine aroma and a slight bready/yeast aroma.
T-More of the same in the taste, lemon really comes out at first and you get that nice piny hop bitterness towards the end.
M- medium bodied
O-Spin on a whitbier. It has a bit more lemon in the aroma and taste that I think is traditionally in the style, aloong with the use of what seems like cascade hops adding to the citrus and pine notes. Nice refreshing beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2011 22:09:43 | More by atr2605

Hibernator

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Ithaca Partly Sunny
12 oz brown bottle
Best before October notched on the side label
Served in a 20 oz tulip glass

Pours a mustard yellow with a big fluffy white head. Bleach white sticky head. Mini carbonation bubbles race to the top of the glass.

Whiffs of spices, citrus and Belgian yeast.

A highly carbonated interpretation of a witbier, that is missing something. Orange juice sweetness with some black pepper spice. Funky yeast and more citrus flavors, but with an overly bitter finish.

A nice try, but such a difficult beer for some craft breweries to pull off with success.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2011 23:25:28 | More by Hibernator

HotHands

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - pours a fairly clear gold color with a nice white head.

S - typical witbier scents - orange peel, citrus, clove. All pleasant.

T - A fairly dry wit with a good amount of coriander. Some lemon and clove flavors as well. Ideally there would be a bit more ester flavors.

M - highly carbonated and light-bodied.

Overall - a fairly decent wit. Better than Blue Moon, but falls short of Hoegaarden, Ommegang, Great Lakes Holy Moses, and the like.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2011 05:22:03 | More by HotHands

phiberoptik

Ohio

3.78/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Smells of lemon and spice. Pours a cloudy yellow with a lot of head even with a careful pour. Overly carbonated causing me to burp. Has a tangy kick to it which is uncommon for most beers. Tastes of lemon/orange and spice, and I had to edit this to add the banana in the finish. I agree. I dont know my spice notes well enough to dissect them. It has a light body to it so its very drinkable other than the carbonation. I would pick other beers before this one in the category but I wouldnt complain if this was what I had to drink.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2011 01:56:53 | More by phiberoptik

rlee1390

Indiana

2.98/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A-Clear yellow-orange. 1 finger foam head that dissipates quickly, does not leave behind any lacing. Highly carbonated

S-Lemon, wheat and bananas

T-Mainly lemon, not real strong. Some banana at the finish but once again not a strong flavor.

M-Light, carbonated and dry

D-Too dry and carbonated to be very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2010 02:46:09 | More by rlee1390

KickInTheChalice

Illinois

3.73/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Thanks to Shrek806 for sending this.

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden color with a huge creamy white head. The golden color is party, if not mostly, sunny.

Smell: The nose has a little something different - robust citrus in addition to the orange peel, along with a wide variety of spice. Coriander, ginger, and cloves are all present.

Taste: Although the secondary flavors give this a nice twist, the primary malt is a bit lacking. Some good spices though, and the lemon zest adds a nice touch. I actually get a little banana and some floral and citrus hops - maybe a bit much? - toward the end.

Mouthfeel: Crisply carbonated, light to medium body, zesty.

Drinkability: This is a little bit different than the regular beers in the style, and I liked it, but there are better ones out there.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2010 04:53:53 | More by KickInTheChalice

xnicknj

Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle poured into pint glass. thanks tom!

Pours a hazy straw yellow with golden hues. A fair head bubbles up, retaining well with some streaks of lacing around the glass.

Scents of pleasant wheat with clove, spice, and some fruit sweetness, although the overall presentation is pretty light.

Begins with a nice tropical fruit sweetness including banana and pineapple. Some spice flairs through with cracked black pepper and some clove. Finishes with a touch of warmth and spice.

Lighter feel with plenty of carbonation and dryness towards the finish. Pretty solid session beer from Ithaca, but not really memorable in flavor or scent.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2010 05:10:32 | More by xnicknj