Caroll Gaarden by Kelso of Brooklyn

Growler from work poured into a Blue Point pint glass.

Good sized, two and a half finger white pillowy head, atop a darker body. This is about the color of unfiltered apple cider, way darker than the straw yellow I was expecting. Even bulky witbiers are still lighter in body than this.

I can smell some clove, and some spice that might be coriander. No yeast smell???

As for the taste, Herm. A lot like a hefeweizen, actually—there’s plenty of esters from the yeast, but nothing that suggests “Belgian.” More clove and much more oily butterfat diacetylic notes. The tang from a considerable wheat presence does come through and cut this a little, but it still doesn’t belong. And where’d the coriander go? Where’s the citrus, of any variety? Put a blindfold on me and I would guess this was a Bavarian wheat beer, though not necessarily a very good one.

Mouthfeel was pretty good, light and spritzy and creamy all at once. That had a suggestion of witbier to it. But all in all, this isn’t much above mediocre.

I really wanted to like this beer. Really. But I have to judge with my head, not my heart. Sorry, guys.