This beer just went on clearance at the LC last week, so unlike some of the beers I'm reviewing in the next bit, this one isn't a couple years old.. ha! This is Mandarina Wheat Ale by Postmark Brewing out of Vancouver. Mandarina was released as a Christmas-themed beer brewed with Mandarina Hops and orange to give it that Christmas orange vibe to it. 5.0% ABV / 15 IBU.
Appearance: Mandarina pours a very light, crisp yet carbonated honey-orange ale. So far there's a good amount of white-beige head on top that's not wanting to go anywhere.. pretty frothy!
Aroma: Smells like Christmas oranges to me! It's a sweet mandarin/tangerine orange aroma with a rich sweet bread dough aroma, a great presence of coriander to give it an herbal and spicy scent to it, and a light tropical hop presence at the end. Somewhat grainy yet I feel that this is going to be more sweet and orangey and coriandery than anything else.
Taste: So? The coriander notes pop out as the predominant flavour here, giving off that herbal and spicy flavour that I know and love. It's not quite as sweet as I was expecting, there is a decent orange presence with an addition of lemon and grassy hops in this beer as well. Seeing that this is listed as an American Pale Ale, if I was blind tasting this beer - I'd assume that this would be a Belgian-style witbier more than anything else. It's sweet, incredibly carbonated on the palate, dry and doesn't really leave much of an aftertaste on the palate, except for maybe a hint of coriander.
Overall Thoughts: As someone who fell in love with witbiers before any other crafty style of beer, I'm enjoying this one a lot. The taste doesn't really give off that Christmas orange flavour as I was hoping, but it gives off a rich orange and coriander presence that I absolutely love. Nowhere near as sweet and in your face as Rickard's White or Belgian Moon (which are almost identical beers), but it's definitely more prolific than Blanche de Chambly. Seeing that this is an American Pale Ale, I was hoping the hops would give off different various fruity flavours, but hey.. I'm still enjoying it.
http://postmarkbrewing.com/
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