Every few months, Trader Joes comes out with a new flyer that advertises all of the company's new and exciting products. In the newest edition of the flyer (which dropped yesterday) you can find a new beer- Kennebunkport Wheat. Being an employee of the company, I felt it was only right to give it a shot in the name of product knowledge.
Kennebunkport beers aren't entirely new to Trader Joes as we've carried their Kennebunkport Pumpkin Beer and their Kennebunkport Blueberry Wheat Ale before and I vaguely remember us carrying an apricot one as well. However, I've never seen Kennebunkport Wheat on our shelves before and the fact that there are only 20 reviews of it on beer advocate (the last one before mine being in 2009) makes me think that the brewery recently decided to bring this baby out of retirement. Let's find out why.
Kennebunkport Wheat pours a very clear and pale golden color with a 1/2 inch white head that sticks around nicely. What caught me off guard about the appearance was how clear the beer was. Usually when I think "wheat beer," I think of cloudy, unfiltered, banana-tasting goodness. But the beer in front of me looked like Corona and smelled like cleaning supplies. Something was off. To be completely honest, it didn't start off smelling like cleaning supplies. When I first poured the beer, it smelled like Pyramid's Audacious Apricot Ale, with big notes of artificial apricot. This was weird, but not terrible. However, as the beer warmed, the smell took on a characteristic that I can only describe as "the smell that lets you know you just turned down the aisle where the bleach is kept in Target."
I wish I could say the taste was better than the smell. Oh, how I wish. Really, there just wasn't much taste to be had. I got a light bit of lemon sourness and then a watered down grainy flavor. As the beer warmed a bit, I started getting a huge yeasty, bready malt flavor that was flat out gross. Needless to say, this beer will not be found on the Top 100 list anytime soon. I just can't help but wonder one thing: Why would they bring this beast out of retirement?
Final Grade: F
Top 100 Beers Tasted: 20
No comments:
Post a Comment