Beer Review: New Belgium Mothership Wit
My Biggest issue with New Belgium is they don’t distribute to New Jersey. In order to get New Belgium beer (and others), I trade yeast samples with a beer buddy in California. In my last trade I got a New Belgium Mothership Wit along with some other beers that I’ll be reviewing later.
New Belgium Mothership Wit
Appearance:
Poured a billowy white head that sits nicely on top of a hazy straw colored brew. The head dissipated pretty quickly to a thin white collar.
Aroma:
A nice mix of orange, coriander, and a bit of clove with underlying banana. It has a very appealing aroma, while definitely a wit had some aroma characteristics of a hefe-weizen. I guess the best way to describe it would be a fruit salad of sorts.
Taste:
I was looking for a heavier mouthfeel with this beer, but it really was a nice balance of flavors that matched a thinner mouthfeel. A very refreshing summer beer, the coriander and orange were held in check allowing the wheat malt character to have a place in the beer and finished nicely with a spice bitter orange flavor. The taste did not disappoint!
Overall Impression:
This is a beer you drink on a hot day to refresh yourself. A session beer at 4.5% abv, I could drink this all day (if they sold this in Jersey!!!!) Well balanced a great example of a wit.
Food Pairing:
This would be nice with a spicy shrimp salad or classic hummus. You’d want to play off the zesty orange in this beer.
Calories: With an ABV of 4.8%, this beer has about 175 calories
Glassware: Open Snifter(see picture), or Pilsner
Simply Beer Rating: 92
My understanding, Peter, is that they’re concerned about their carbon footprint in coming this far east. Supposedly they’re planning to open a satellite brewery on the east coast in the next two years, but that could very well just be rumor.
If you get a chance to trade for their black ale, 1554, do so with great haste. One of their best.
I agree that it stinks that they aren’t over this far east but I understand it can be costly. If my local beer store guy is right he expects them in South Florida by the end of the year.
The 1554 is definitely a good one and can’t wait to try that again. I will also keep an eye out for this one if I get the chance to have it.
The adage, You don’t know what you got till it’s gone hits me with this and Mike’s post. I used to drink New Belgium all the time till I moved to Ohio, so much so that it became humdrum. Sounds good now.
Often I find American Wit falls flat.
I find that the culture seems to become obsessed with high ABV beers…flavor can be found in less overpowering percentages, like this one.
Nice review. Mothership is not my favorite, but I’m not sure what to take from your comments on “Taste”? Personally, I expect a wit to be lighter, especially one coming from West of the Rockies where avg temps are higher.
My only problem, and its not much of a problem, is that New Belgiums “standard” line of beers lack any WOW factor. They are good, solid beers with wide appeal, which is great because it makes them easier to sell. But if anyone out your way is going to go to any real trouble to get something from New Belgium I HIGHLY recommend you shoot for their Seasonal and Specialty lines, they are far more interesting.
Cheers!
I would love to get some of the lips of faith series, but I get what I can when I can. Most American wits seem to be going over the top, so I guess I was expecting that thick flavoring which can go horribly wrong. If you like the mothership and can get the Weyerbacher Blanche, try it, bit more mouthfeel and flavor. WE just reviewed in in Beer Brawl 19 . I have the Victory whirl wind coming up soon.