A Short Review of Beer: Golden Road Hefeweizen

It's that time of the month! Another trip to the gas station, another full growler of beer to try.

This trip's selection was from a Los Angeles-based brewery called Golden Road. I'd never heard of, much less had, a hefewizen (German for "half-white") brew before, so I picked it out while my husband fueled up the car outside.

A toast to the Creator

I had my first taste while observing the super blood moon lunar eclipse, and I will admit that I was not impressed with this Bavarian-style brew. It has an odd taste, almost like a chemical; not bitter, but definitely not sweet, maybe too heavy on the wheat?

The brewery's website says that "Golden Road Hefeweizen was brewed with a Californian twist — the addition of dried, locally grown, organic citrus to a Bavarian classic. After the initial banana and clove, expect tart citrus, a medium body and a dry finish that will leave you thinking about that next sip." My impression was "this tastes weird". Either my taste buds are not primed to detect such fruity subtleties or I do detect the additives and they register as terrible tasting. 

It looks kinda pissy, but this is as close as I can get to capturing the real color of the brew

I'll give the brewers credit, the hefeweizen looks and smells great. My cellphone camera does a pretty good job of capturing the golden yellow color, and the malts clearly are present. The alcohol content is pretty low too, only about 4.6%, so I wasn't buzzed.

Like Barrio Blonde, hefeweizen is a good starter beer for someone who's fresh off the mainstream beer boat in the new world of microbrewing. Because it's mild, this beer does go down easy. It's definitely a good summertime brew, and I'd suggest pairing this beer with a sandwich to at least deal with the odd taste. If you're not having hefeweizen with a meal, I do recommend adding some clamato (tomato-clam juice) or plain tomato juice to give it a palatable flavor. My husband added a splash of his favorite clamato and he said it took the odd taste of the hefeweizen away.

Overall, I didn't like this beer. I wouldn't buy it again after this tasting. 

For more on Golden Road Brewing, check out their website.

As always, please drink responsibly