The Spirit World

Magic Hat Saint Goötz (5.9% abv) is billed as a Dark Winter Wheat (Dunkelweizen). This beer certainly stands apart from the other winter/holiday beers I’ve selected for this twelve beers of Christmas series because of its noticeable tartness and fruity nose.

Eyes: This clear chestnut colored beer has a slight cloudiness to it which is appropriate to the style. There’s sediment in the bottle and I would suggest giving the bottle a gentle swirl to encourage a full mixing of the sediment in the beer. (Adding the sediment is a matter of taste. While it’s appropriate here, pouring the sediment is not something that is good for every beer.)

Nose: The aroma is mostly fruit. I get banana, resulting most likely from the strain of yeast used to ferment the beer. German style Weizen beers range between banana and clove in the nose depending on the fermentation temperature.

Taste: This beer is a symphony of flavor with the characteristic wheat tartness playing lead fiddle. I also detect chocolate, caramel, butterscotch, coffee, and clove. I suspect there is also lactose in this brew.

Overall: A complex beer with an unusual (for a winter ale) flavor profile. This is a welcome change from other American macho-hopped beers.

My Rating: 13.5/20 or 6.75/10

Pro: A daring original that goes for complex flavors held together with a refreshing tartness.

Con: A little on the thin side. I would have preferred a little more fullness to support the flavor complexity.