This Friday’s beer is not a Winter Brew by any means, but January is drawing to a close now and sometimes there’s nothing better than a nice refreshing brew after a hard days work. Mana Wheat, a Pineapple American Wheat from Maui Brewing in Hawaii is perfect for this in my opinion.
Let’s start with Maui‘s Description of the beer:
An unfiltered, freshly handcrafted American-style Wheat infused with Maui Gold Pineapple. Our crisp and refreshing wheat ale is lightly hopped to allow the fruity sweetness of the pineapple to shine. The yeast stays in suspension making the ale traditionally cloudy.
A short, but sweet description from Maui Brewing. It has a little bit of how they brew the beer, which is nice and lets you know to expect it to be cloudy but leaves the rest to the imagination. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and seeing as this is my first Pineapple Wheat Beer it allowed me to taste the beer without any preconceptions.
I had a good look for the recipe of this brew, and unfortunately I couldn’t find it anywhere! So I tasted a few of these and came up with the recipe as best I could. The malts in this beer are Wheat Malt, Pale Ale Malt and Munich Malt, with some Flaked Wheat added as a fermentable. As for the hops, I think Northern Brewer and a very small amount of Citra have been used. After this the famous Maui Gold Pineapples are added as juice and it’s left to ferment.
When you pour this beer, it pours a Cloudy Golden Colour with a Medium White head. Unfortunately, the picture I took above doesn’t do the Beer as much justice as I would’ve liked. The head leaved sticky lacing around the glass as it dissipates and really clings there if you let it. On the nose, there’s hints of Bubblegum, quite a bit of Pineapple Juice and Tinned Pineapple, Wheat, and a touch of Banana and other Tropical Fruits. This beer smells so inviting, and I honestly think although it’s fruity and a Wheat Beer you really can appriciate it year round. The Palate is more complex than I expected, with Fruity Pineapple Notes, Wheat and a touch of Clove with a fruity slightly Hoppy finish. During this, the Pineapple and Tropical Fruit carry through the flavour very well. It’s not exactly a sweet beer and finishes a little Spicy. It’s quite full-bodied for the style, finishes Medium. I recommend this beer for year round consumption, although it would be better in the Summer with a BBQ going!
You can buy Maui Mana Wheat in the UK at:
Unfortunately both places are out of stock at the moment, but keep an eye out as this is a truely great brew!
EST. CALORIES: 165 ABV: 5.5%
Good Beer dot Co 