No Label Brewing Co El Hefe

Bright yellow color with fleeting white foam. Bready and grainy wheat-like malt notes blend with some classic banana and clove-like esters in the nose. Spicy banana esters lift on this one. Banana bread and clove open up as the beer warms on the pallet. The sip is aligned with what the aroma promised with some nice spiced banana bread like notes within a grainy but lightly sweet malt body. There's a sweetness throughout that finishes with a gentle bitterness. Firm but restrained and pleasant floral hop bitterness and a nice spicy clove note help to temper the sweetness and create a nice balance and lightly bitter finish.

Loads of meaty smoke-like notes jump out of the glass giving the impression of a roaring campfire. Roast and smoky notes merge with a peppery heat in the flavor along with a woody characteristic that furthers the campfire theme. The heat of the pepper lingers in the back of the throat well into the finish but it is not overdone or in anyway harsh. This unique and novel concept is actually fairly well executed and drinks exactly like you'd expect a spicy campfire to taste like. Smoked beer and pepper beer worlds collide, and the product is quirky yet cool and shockingly well delivered.

“Excellent presentation—large, off-white, poofy head of tiny bubbles that linger. Moderately grainy bread dough kicks off the aroma, followed by subdued but balanced banana esters along with low clove and black-pepper notes. The appropriately cloudy appearance sets the stage for a soft and creamy mouthfeel that gently carries the rounded grainy sweetness. The flavor matches the aroma with a nice grainy, bready base that supports medium-low banana esters and medium black pepper and clove phenolics. Hints of light vanilla further add to a metered sweet impression that remains supremely drinkable. Overall, very nicely balanced with restraint on esters and phenolics—all of the components play very nicely together.”