Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss - Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company

mfnmbvp

Illinois

2.55/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12 oz. bottle, purchased as part of the Leinenkugel's Autumn sampler pack. Bottle says to enjoy by January 07, 2013 so I am only a couple days late on this one.

A - Non-aggressive pour into a Boulevard tulip glass yields the tiniest half finger of foamy head that recedes into nothing within seconds. Extremely pale, clear, yellow straw color. Steady stream of bubbles rushing to the top. Looks very similar to a Miller Lite or something similar.

S - Pale boring malt smell with a tiny whiff of bubblegum. Maybe the vaguest hint of honey in there somewhere, but otherwise it is a pretty dull sniffing experience. Corn.

T - Tastes like a more tame boring watered down version of the Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest without the hint of spice. Bubblegum malts seem to be dominant again here with a faint hint of honey tickling the tongue. Lots of carbonation. No real flavor to speak of. Corn.

M - Smooth clean watery mouthfeel again. I am really digging for the honey, and it is there, but it isn't very pronounced. Again, carbonated, but it isn't so bad that it completely ruins the beer like some other lackluster brews I've had in the past.

Overall, not a great beer, and probably the lamest beer in Leinenkugel's autumn sampler. I have had home-brewed beers that were way too heavy on the honey, but this beer could definitely use some more. With a low 4.9% abv, use this beer to introduce your friends to something other than Miller Lite or Bud Light.

Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss ---2.5/5

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2013 00:20:40 | More by mfnmbvp

p-goose

1.3/5  rDev -56.2%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

I poured myself a Leinenkugel Honey Weiss in a .3L weiss glass. The beer seemed to seperate itself for the glass itself. Mind you I carefully clean my glasses according to accepted beer standards. The pizza glass phenomenon is not for me. So I'm not sure why there was no beer clinging to the glass.

A- Not too bad; golden in color that looks okay under artificial lighting.

S- Not so good; I couldn't differentiate anything relating to Honey or wheat for that matter.

T- Yikes. What happened to the taste? There is nothing that resembles what we call 'flavor' in this beer.

M- Watery- that's being kind too.

O- Huge dissapointment. I expected something respectable. I know I have high standards but even an average beer drinker deserves better then this.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2013 19:57:41 | More by p-goose

Winston_Smith

Kentucky

2.15/5  rDev -27.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Best by March 11, 2013

Appearance: Crystal clear straw color with zero head. Looks like AAL.

Smell: Not impressive. Smells like adjuncts.

Taste: What taste? I can't make out any honey. It tastes like AAL. Not good.

Mouthfeel: Light... like water.

Overall: Stay away. I might drink one for free.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2012 01:21:48 | More by Winston_Smith

BierStein711

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev +35.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Not bad!

From the bottle; no glass involved as I have already had this beer on draught so I know the color.

Straw yellow, clear and not hazy

Smells of honey, and wheat malt

Taste: lemony malt, honey, and slightly bitter finish; well balanced beer

Mouthfeel: smooth

Its not what I normally drink! But, when someone else gives me a six pack, I'm game.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 03:24:04 | More by BierStein711

SometimesIfart

Michigan

1.11/5  rDev -62.6%
look: 1 | smell: 1 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

A - Pours extremely light gold with a one finger head. Very bland looking.

S - Stale malt, rice adjunct. No honey.

T - Aluminum, stale malt, slight corn, very very slight honey.

M - Light watery body with almost no carbonation. Ohhh the water.

O - Overall, this beer couldn't have been any more boring. Seriously just tasted like a light adjunct. I wouldn't have it again.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2012 04:46:32 | More by SometimesIfart

Murrhey

Montana

2.33/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass. Reviewed live.

A- One finger white head with low retention. Slightly golden body, light and very high clarity.

S- Honey, grass, light malts. Very light and not appealing.

T- Sweet and grassy. Light and somewhat drinkable, but offputting with the grassiness.

M- Light and bubbly. Like carbonated water.

O- Not disgusting, but definitely one to avoid.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2012 04:29:50 | More by Murrhey

punky796

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass.

A - Yellow-gold pour, white head, doesn't last long.

S - Mostly malt and honey.

T - Malt, not as heavy on the honey as you'd expect, kinda grainy.

M - Moderate carbonation, somewhat dry. Leaves you with that syrupy-mouth feeling after you've had a lot of pop.

O - Not bad. I like the honey, but could be better.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2012 05:21:40 | More by punky796

TheRealBigC

Nevada

3.28/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Nothing spectacular about this one. Personally, I like the smooth, refreshingness of the honey wheat beer. So I have no problem putting these down. Would I buy a six pack for myself? Nah. It's kind of dull, but it seems like it would have mass appeal if it were more widely available.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2012 05:31:29 | More by TheRealBigC

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

2.38/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Best by Oct. 8, 2012. Poured into a Hoegaarden glass with gusto.

Pours a light honey color with tremendous clarity. Very little head off the pour is a bit disappointing. After a mere 30 seconds, the beer is just as transparent looking down upon the surface to the bottom, sans some pesky surface foam.

The only aromatics I'm getting off of Honey Weiss is tangy wheat and honey. The malts are there, but the hops are minute.

Tastes like a wheat ale with adjuncts and a light dose of honey. The wheaty tang is overpowered with bittering hop preservatives and grainy husks. I can pick up some cooked veggies in the mix. A little rigorous in the finish. Aftertaste carries out some honey. Faint banana, but it's a washout.

Very thin and bubbly. Watery, even. Hard to hold back a burp on each sip. A rather stale mouthfeel.

A mediocre wheat ale, and hardly a kristalweizen. The honey flavor is not entirely forgiving, but at least it gives it character. I'm not a Leinie's fan, but this one was a big disappointment. Regrettable last beer of the night.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 05:10:24 | More by thecheapies

soju6

Missouri

2.45/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

A: Pours a clear golden color with a large white head that fades to bits of lacing.

S: Aroma of grains, malt sweetness and honey.

T: Taste of Honey, malt sweetness and bit of grain. Mild bitterness and a sweet sticky finish.

F: Light body, smooth and way too sweet.

O: Too sweet to enjoy. Not a fan of the style.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 11:18:07 | More by soju6

kangarooAdam59

Wyoming

2.95/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Best by August 27, 2012:

Into a pilsener (also had in a borrowed weizen, no change):

A: yellow colored body with a two finger foamy white head. Lots of carbonation is seen rising. There was no lacing whatsoever.

S: some hops with a bland sort of honey. There really wasn't anything else to note.

T: sweet through the honey up front and once again nothing that stood out.

M: pretty light and no carbonation was felt, sessionable

O: well it's not a bad beer, just not something to scream about. Weird, how I thought this was a better beer, maybe it tasted better when I lived in Michigan and I was closer to Wisconsin? Not sure.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2012 15:17:05 | More by kangarooAdam59

BigPlay1824

New York

2.5/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Enjoyed in a weizen glass

A: Pours a crystal clear very very light hay color with a ton of carbonation bubbles and a ton of large bubbled soapy looking pure white head which dissipates at a moderate rate before leaving a decent amount of scattered lacing
S: so, sadly, this beer reminds me right off the bat of an adjunct american lager, light, cereal grains and not much more, there is a slight sweetness of honey which is detectable at the very end
T: begins with a nice deep sweetness which reminds me alot of honey, big surprise, also there are notable light cereal grains, not much complexity or depth
M: smooth and clean, slightly cloying at the end, does leave the mouth feeling slightly bright even cold like a mint freshness without the flavor
O: im not overly familiar with this style but i do find this example to be very bland and unfortunately reminiscent of adjunct lagers, honey was nice but not much else was worth mentioning

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2012 00:39:49 | More by BigPlay1824

tewaris

Minnesota

2/5  rDev -32.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Poured into a pint.

Crystal clear with a two finger head that leaves a wispy layer behind without any lacing. Doesn't smell repulsive but is certainly very generic: some malts and that seems to be about it. Taste instantly deports me to my earlier days of drinking beer: notes of The Library and Sally's Saloon. In more concrete terms, it tastes very generic with some maltiness, slight bitterness at the end, and a generally clean character. Plus the yucks. Thin, watery, carbonated. Also, can't tell whatever happened to real Wisconsin honey. It is what it is. And it ain't any good.

2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 09:01:50 | More by tewaris

barnzy78

Illinois

2.93/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz bottle out of a summer sampler, pours golden with excellent clarity, bubbly white head with decent retention and leaves some spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas are muted but sweet with wheat and biscuit, but that's about it. Tastes are sweet honey, biscuity, nutty, wheaty, delicately hopped. Mouth-feel is thin-to-medium bodied, moderate carbonation, and finishes slightly dry. Overall, I think "Kristalweizen" isn't the proper style category for this one, as I would tend to think Kristalweizen = filtered German Hefeweizen, where this beer has no German influence at all. Kristal American Pale Wheat Ale? Whatever it may be, my values above represent it as an American wheat, and it's a decent beer if you want to think of it that way.

Serving type: bottle

06-24-2012 03:42:19 | More by barnzy78

GuyNamedSid

2.65/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Little to no head. A piss yellow color. Mouth felt a little heavy. the honey was nice...I thought it would have been too sweet, but was impressed with the flavor.

Leaves a little after taste but not necessarily a bad one. I'd say this is more of a cooler weather beer despite it being boxed in the summer sampler.

Overall: Try it

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2012 01:27:43 | More by GuyNamedSid

Clones21

3.3/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Smell-Very honey like. Some hops.

Looks-Straw like yellow. Not that great.

Taste-Lots of honey up front. The after taste isn't that great. The after taste, taste like a Bud Light or something like that.

Overall it's not that bad of a beer. Much better than Bud Light or a big mainstreem beer..but not far off from them. Give it a try.

Serving type: on-tap

06-23-2012 00:42:19 | More by Clones21

vette2006c5r

Wisconsin

2.38/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Honey Weiss poured a cloudy bright yellow color, with not much head. There really wasn't much of a smell, hints of honey were present but not much else. The taste had hints of lemon and honey, but had a grainy and unpleasant after taste. Light flavor, and not very enjoyable, overall stay away.

Serving type: on-tap

05-15-2012 23:29:16 | More by vette2006c5r

jimmah120

Minnesota

2.7/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

12oz bottle best by july 02 2012

Pours an extremely clear pale yellow with a slight orange tinge. Weak-looking bubbly head fades away to a bit of film in an instant. Smell is very strong husky corn, maybe some light malt, and the honey is barely there in the back. Taste is slightly burnt bread crust, corn water, and the presence of malt but not the taste. There isn't any honey flavor, but it is sweet.

Okay, easy to drink to the point of being flavorless. Better than bud/miller/coors, but still in that category.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2012 01:24:15 | More by jimmah120

tvljr

Virginia

2.23/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Extremely clean pour and appearance, even for a kristalweisen, with a short lived and lacy head.s

No hint of honey in the smell or the taste. I kind of expected that in a Honey Weiss.

More bitter than I expected for a Honey Weiss with a shot of hops in the aftertaste.

Dry finish. Could probably drink it on the hottest of July days, but only if nothing else was available.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2012 23:41:58 | More by tvljr

WVbeergeek

Ohio

2.6/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

They call this a honey weiss, it's basically a deep pale golden hue with a bright white head that dies quickly to nothing but speckled lacing. Aroma is minimal very muted sharp wheat notes with little to no citrus or honey notes. Thin body easy to sip on but the wheat notes give it some actual nice breadiness, I don't get much in the way of honey on the palate, a bit of hash grainy character in the finish. A touch of fruit, maybe at this point I will call it citrus. Mouthfeel has heavy carbonation but a lighter body, adding to some unnatural effervescence. Overall, the beer is unlike any other beer, out there a wheat beer that is crystal clear and tastes clean like basically nothing.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2012 21:11:27 | More by WVbeergeek

Jamesthebrit

Michigan

2.18/5  rDev -26.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

A: Thick white bubbly head. Very light in color. Looks watery.
S: Yeasty with hints of alcohol. Not really a pleasing smell.
T: Very very light. Alcohol flavor dominates which is weird given the low ABV. Yeast flavor on finish. Indeed it's beer but it tastes cheap.
M: Sits light and bubbly. A redeeming quality of this beer.

Overall pass on this for sure. There aren't really any good flavors to it other then the astringent alcohol and lingering yeast. Honey sweetness does not come through. A poor showing

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2012 16:30:16 | More by Jamesthebrit

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev +27.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

At TJ Rockwell's in E-town.

A: Pretty hazy for a kristalweizen; the middle of the mug verges on amber. Thin white head.

S: Nose has wheat, orange spice, and honey. The sweetness pairs nicely with the mild tartness of the wheat. Honey is a rich addition.

T: The witbier base, spicy with orange zest, is very nice. The wheat, lighter, has just a bit of tartness that is slow to emerge. The honey adds both sweetness and depth, strengthening the ale while bringing a significant sweetness. The entire package is very small, no alcoholic heaviness to be seen. The honey brings plenty to the ale.

M: I gulped through this pretty quickly; it caught me off guard. Very refreshing and sweet; Leinie's has a way of sneaking up on you like that.

Serving type: on-tap

03-17-2012 18:47:22 | More by akorsak

match1112

Illinois

2.45/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

poured out a light honey color. clear body with a thin white head that quickly fizzes out. has poor retention and lacing. smells like wheat and honey. tastes like watered down honey and wheat. has a thin watery mouthfeel with little carbonation and no hops presence what so ever. overall this is a poor example of what a kristalweizen can be.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2012 01:17:22 | More by match1112

SickGnar

Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Very pale straw, bright and clear, a few lazy bubbles rise to the medium-large, stark white cap of foam that falls quickly & leaves just a of splats of lace.

S: Floral sweetness blends into floral/grassy & lemony hops. A bit of a grainy & doughy wheat malt background. Aroma is decent, but lacking in roundness & depth, a bit stretched, and low on strength.

T: Like the nose – more floral than honey. But it does play a pleasant and central roll. Softly sweet rather than cloying, and with a fair light honey flavor. Base beer is more of a light , macro lager than a wheat beer. A bit of crackery malt and husky grain. Some lemony citrus hops that turn grassy in the finish with soft bitterness. It has a hint of a bite, but this is so minimal that it could easily be just some carbonic acid from the carbonation.

M: Medium-light with carbonation well matched. Smooth & refreshing. Slightist tart hint up front with a bit of a soapy impression at the finish (particularly as it warms). Manages to stay semi-sweet throughout.

D: A light summer thirst solution. Not all that different from macro swill. Floral honey sweetness and lemon hops don’t really work well together, and – along with the appearance- contribute to a diluted, honey-sweetened shandy impression.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2012 17:30:21 | More by SickGnar

Chiefy770

Illinois

3.03/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from bottle, enjoyed from glass.

A: A nice clear, pale, yellow color.

S: Light scent with the slightest hint of citrus.

T: Refreshing taste overall. A small draw of honey with a trace of lemon peel mix with a pleasant tasting wheat-beer taste.

M: The hops make the tongue water and wash to a dry mouth-feel. Very crisp hit on the initial sip.

Overall: This beer is a lovely summertime brew. I prefer this over Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel's "summertime" beer because this contains far less fruit and is not sweetened nearly as much. If the price is right and the weather is warm, try a few of these.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2012 04:15:04 | More by Chiefy770