El Jefe Weizen Ale - Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub

czechsaaz

Washington

2.8/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Lots of tart wheat aroma with subtle spiciness. (not banana/clove, more like yeast/estery.) Smells a little like dried apricots. No hops in the aroma, which is right for most wheat beers. Deep gold color and cloudy. Big head fades quickly leaving a small white head.

Tart start, in fact tart is dominant. Not off or infected, but this can happen with a good amount of wheat in the grist. Pretty nice malty finish but again, tart throughout. Very little hop flavor. Not a whole lot of spice either.

I had this at the brewery a week or so ago and was WAY more impressed than the bottle version. I'm a bit surprised that I don't really care for this beer. Will take notes at the brewery and review again. Could be an old bottle as wheat beers must be consumed fresh imo.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2005 00:18:31 | More by czechsaaz

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Significantly cloudy amber-orange, emphasis on the former. The actual yeast particles aren't as readily apparent as they are in most hefes, they simply blur and soften the color of the beer. Atop the liquid is a head of regal white, a color that I just made up (it means closer to pure, bright white than to ivory). Even though the cap is semi-firm, it slowly melts rather than maintaining its structure as it falls. Random thick chunks of lace stick to the glass.

Hale's El Jefe has a far, far better nose than the vast majority of American wheat beers (Three Floyds Gumballhead excluded, of course), in large part because it's so vibrant. It's also sweet and intensely banana-like with an underlying tropical character; passionfruit perhaps. This is a fruit punchy nose and a good one.

I got a sense of the flavor when I had to slurp the head to keep it from overflowing the glass. When the foam is this loaded with flavor, you know something good is going on. Again, I can't help but compare this beer to the legions of truly crappy American pale wheats that every brewer and his brother tries to foist off on us. Although this isn't lip smackingly outstanding beer, it is head and shoulders above most of its peers.

It's acceptably malted with a jacked-up flavor that has to be coming from hops. Yeast just isn't this fruitysweet. In no way is El Jefe in Gumballhead's league, but it does remind me of that beer in terms of the amount and type of flavor. It's tropically fruity and tangily sweet and I seem to find something new each time I sip.

The light body doesn't come close to losing its composure and even manages just a hint of slick mouthcoating on the longer than expected finish. The mouthfeel is soft and airy and fits the flavor and the (presumed) mission statement perfectly. There's no letdown in terms of carbonation either; it's lively, but not overly so.

El Jefe (The Boss) is aptly named. It's a kick-ass American weizen that does what it must to stand out in a sea of utter insipidness. It delivers loads of flavor, good flavor, to a style that often lacks imagination. A solid effort that would be a summer staple if I lived in the Pac NW.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2005 23:46:42 | More by BuckeyeNation

canucklehead

British Columbia (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This is a big interpretation of the style with bananas, cloves, citrus and yeast coming together in a cloudy party. I had fun drinking this beer because it seemed the brewer had fun with his take on the style. Not the most refined Hefe it certianly is one of the biggest and flavourful.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2005 17:57:31 | More by canucklehead