Wiseacre "Second Banana" Hefeweizen

Like a lot of local breweries (well, local to Tennessee), my opinion of Wiseacre seems to be greater than the actual results have been so far. They haven't had any bad beers, but they've had 2 not great, most of their beers have been average, six were great, and they had one - just one - excellent beer. At least they are weighted in the right direction, and they are trying pretty hard.

The somewhat hazy beer is straw gold and is not forthcoming with a whole ton of head. The aroma is quite a bit of banana with heavy grains under it all. For some reason, my nose thinks that this is a very tart or almost sour beer, but I know that can't actually be the case. I'm sure most of you have that experience where you smell something that almost smells sour. This is that, and I really don't know why. I certainly hope someone didn't make a mistake and put a sour in a hefeweizen can.

First sip isn't sour, but I get what I was smelling now. The yeast is very strong, and it has a bit of a sour cast to it, but this isn't a sour beer. What's really surprising is that the banana hasn't taken over the flavor. It's in there, but it's subtle and just gently outlines the grains and the (frankly overpowering) yeast. If the yeast was a soft and inviting as the banana, this would be a winner right off the bat, but this isn't Belgian yeast, so it's not doing what I would want it to do.

Tip-in is mild carbonation tingle above the yeast (which is not going nuts), banana, and grains. What I am missing here is any kind of citrus that I would want in a wheat beer. The middle is fantastically smooth and the mix of grains, banana, and yeast is just about perfect. The finish is where the yeast hits way too hard and the banana seems to go off a bit for the trail off.

Bottom Line: It would be second banana to most other hefeweizens. 

1.75/5