New Belgium Brewing Sunshine Wheat

**Aroma:** “Light grapefruit, lemon, and floral notes with a slight grainy sweetness behind hops aroma. A little restrained for style, but still pleasant. Light sweet malt notes with a touch of biscuit malt. Mostly clean with low esters and just a hint of sulfur.” **Flavor:** “Nice up-front hops, balanced wonderfully with a soft malt character. Citrus rind dominates hops flavors with some floral notes. A slight juiciness may be related to the slight caramel note from the malt. Restrained yeast notes provide a subtle fruitiness that works well. Light and carbonic—very drinkable. Definitely hops forward but not out of balance, with a slight lingering bitterness.” **Overall:** “This is your dad’s pale ale—a pretty classic-style pale ale that’s rounded out with no intense sharp edges that hits straight down the middle. All ingredients play well together, but nothing really sticks out. A clean, quaffable pale ale with just a touch of sweetness in mid-palate and a bit mild on the hops for a modern APA.”

**Aroma:** “Light acidity/tartness with moderate apricot, light pear, and a touch of apple and vanilla. A wonderful presentation of the fruity apricot aromas with light floral aromas similar to honeysuckle.” **Flavor:** “The apricot dominates the front end, but a moderate amount of tartness prevents it from becoming too sweet and fruity. A healthy amount of funk also complements the fruit. Surprisingly, a subtle amount of spice, typical of saisons, makes an appearance, a rarity for these fruity farmhouse styles. Light barrel character, but the fruit and funk are the stars.” **Overall:** “Apricot is there throughout and adds a decent acidity. It’s a little sweeter than I was expecting for a saison, but a little more age will clean up the young _Brett_ notes on the tail end as well as dry it out. A great beer that succeeds in its use of apricot and execution of the base farmhouse/saison beer.”

**Aroma:** “A breath of graham cracker−like wheat, a touch of bread, and a clean, very low yeast character. Some light citrus esters, and a touch of herbal, grassy hops and raw wort, plus a sense of some bitterness to come.” **Flavor:** “The aroma suggested a more hops-forward flavor than comes through. A delicate balance of low bready malt character with a hint of graham cracker and a bit of earthy and herbal hops. Some fruit esters emerge as peach and nectarine, along with some unexpected almost Brett-like notes. Medium body with a touch of sweetness. The finish is a touch bitter and a little watery.” **Overall:** “Very refreshing and easy to drink—this beer is balanced and clean, with the malt and hops in harmony. Some nice hops on the nose, but not the expected bitterness in the flavor. A great lawnmower beer. The soft palate makes this a good pairing for food.”