Leinenkugels Honey Weiss Bier

 
Honey Weiss

Brewed by:
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Kristalweizen(beeradvocate.com)

American Wheat Ale
(ratebeer.com)

4.90% ABV



Commercial Description:Honey Weiss has a taste that's light, crisp and slightly sweet.
(RateBeer.com)

General Pricing:12oz bottle, ~ $7.00 - $8.00 6pack, ~$29.00 case

Background:I bought this on a whim last week looking for a light summer beer. I also wanted to know how it would compare to Blue Moon’s Honey Moon, which I did like. There was no special consideration on this one just a random summer beer selection. So, let’s see what we have.

Review:The beer pours a clear pale straw with golden hues and a bright white head. This is also highly carbonated with lots of tiny bubbles rising up from the bottom of the glass.

There are light pale malt and wheat aromas on the nose. There is also a slight hop aroma along with slight citrus notes.

There is not much to the taste of this beer. There is a light malt sweetness up front, then a very refreshing, cleansing effervescence over the tongue. The back end has a slight harshness to it that takes away any of the refreshing qualities in mid-sip. The finish is fairly dry with some very nice citrus notes. There is not much of a final aftertaste; some light malts and some citrus notes.

There is also a very grassy taste to this beer. I can see now why there seems to be some confusion to this style. Ratebeer.com has it as an American wheat ale while BeerAdvocate.com has it as an American Adjunct Lager. It is pretty surprising to have this beer classified as both a wheat ale and a lager. Even Leinie’s website claims awards for both a wheat ale and lager categories.  Personally I’m leaning toward an adjunct lager. This is not a clean refreshing wheat ale. There is a definite grassy harshness to this that you would usually find in an adjunct lager.

As this beer warms it is almost undrinkable. The harshness on the back end and finish is really unpleasant.

I’m going to give this one a D. It may not be a bad summer beer if it is kept ice cold but please don’t let it warm up; you really don’t want to taste it.

I cannot recommend this beer; if you are looking for a good summer honey wheat ale than I would recommend Blue Moon Honey Moon. I really thought that was a good beer for this category.