We had our monthly homebrew club meeting and I was presenting on the topic of fruit beers, so before I had to present, I thought I’d grab something a little strong to relax a bit. The board at Medici in Normal (seen in the upper left of the pic) indicated that the New Holland Pigrimx Dole Wheat Wine was a high alcohol beer and served in a goblet… So that’s what I went for.
It had a hazy brown color, and had almost no head with just a ring of fine bubbles around the top of the goblet. Once I got past the obvious alcohol smell, the nose was a surprisingly fruity malty aroma, with a slight bubble gum-like smell.
As a wheat wine, it definitely had a very thick mouthfeel. The alcohol was very, very apparent, making this one a sipping beer, not a drinking beer. It was a little bit malty up front, giving way to an alcoholic juicy, fruity flavor. It reminded me a little bit of biting into a juicy cantalope (that had been dunked in grain alcohol).
I know that description may not sound the most appealing, but, if was an OK beer. I’d really love to see what this might taste like after a few years of aging, and see if the heavy alcohol smells and flavors might soften a bit. As far as a food pairing, this isn’t really the type of beer to be enjoyed with food. I’d place it more in the category of sipping before or after dinner, sort of like a scotch or whisky – due to the high alcoholic flavors.
