Ding points: 52.50

Pour: 60.00, Nose: 50.00, Palate: 50.00, Mouth: 60.00, Global 50.00

Tasting Notes:

I am reliably informed that this beer is essentially the same recipe as the 2010 Summer Ale that Red Brick put out last year. Looking at my notes from previous tastings of that beer, this does seem different to me, but obviously that could be a palate issue.

Red Brick Dog Days Ale

To me, this beer is a bit ‘all over the place’. The pour is very disappointing for a self-proclaimed Hefeweizen. The color is good, but the head and depth of body is just not there. A little over-carbonated leads to some distracting prickliness.

In terms of the tastes I get the usual (and expected banana notes in the middle of the beer, but the front end is somewhat abruptly permeated by a stinging grapefruit bitterness, and the banana is followed by a quite sweet pineapple note. The grapefruit bitterness returns in the back end and finish. None of these tastes are unpleasant, in fact they all bring their own positive elements, BUT taken together, in the same glass, it all gets a bit much and the beer disintegrates into an annoying mish-mash of clashing flavors. There is also a pervasive acidity that permeates the beer all the way through.

The body is especially light and fails to satisfy and this is a particular problem for a beer of this style.

The beer IS drinkable, but I don’t really ‘get it’.

Other: This is a combination of tasting notes from a tasting on 5/18/2011 and 8/3/2011.