Beer of the Week (Vol. LXXXIV)

Another edition of Beer of the Week brought to you by the happy at Glen Lake Wine & Spirits who can help you ring in the New Year with champagne, wine, whiskey, and beer (or some combination thereof).

Our focus this week stays with Samuel Adams and another one of their winter seasonals White Ale:

Spicy yet smooth. Samuel Adams White Ale is brewed with 10 exotic spices: orange and lemon peel, dried plum, Grains of Paradise, coriander, anise, hibiscus, rose hips, tamarind, and vanilla. As an unfiltered wheat ale, Samuel Adams White Ale has a crisp and refreshing taste profile with the added unique character and complexity of our special blend of spices.

Brown bottle. Label is essentially the Sam Adams standard with touch of green and wintery blue for the holiday season.

STYLE: Witbier

Alcohol by Volume: 5.3%

COLOR (0-2): Golden with nice cloudiness. 2

AROMA (0-2): Wheaty with a little citrus. 1

HEAD (0-2): Bright white. Decent volume and good lacing. 2

TASTE (0-5): Mostly wheat and malt flavors without much hops. There's a bit of lemon and the spices are very light. Good carbonation, crisp mouthfeel, and medium bodied. Moderately drinkable. 3

AFTERTASTE (0-2): Dry with a pleasantly sweet finish. 2

OVERALL (0-6): You don't usually find too many wheat beers among the winter seasonals so Sam Adams' White Ale is a refreshing change of pace. It's looks good in the glass, has decent flavor, and goes down easy. If you pick up a twelve-pack of Sam Adams Winter Classics, you get two of each winter selection plus a couple Boston Lagers. That's about the perfect number of White Ales to enjoy on New Year's Eve or another winter night. 3

TOTAL SCORE (0-19): 13