Lagunitas Bavarian-styled Doppel Weizen.

A new-to-me limited release. Labels reads "This Special Brew Was Designed By Our Freistaat Bayern Brothers Who Also Built The Brewhouse Upon Which We Brewed It", which makes for a really long name. The edge of the label tells a cute story of making a drunken brewhouse purchase from a "Freistat Bayern Brewer" for a mere 80bbl capacity back in 2006. Today, Lagunitas is moving to a 250bbl facility. Cheers.

Interesting little brew. The aroma is strongly banana, but the first taste is rather spicy, like a Belgian wit but sours out like a German hefeweizen. And the body is creamy and smooth like a Vienna lager. There's a lot going on here, both in depth and breadth. The banana which so strongly dominates the nose bows out and allows a refreshing wheat character to take stage, though well protected by a haze of spice buffeted by a nicely effervescent body. The banana makes a brief appearance towards the end, and I think I caught a taste of something akin to a plum.

OG 1.084, 9%ABV, 34.2 IBU. This is such an interesting beer. It's like it has a little something for everyone. It doesn't excel at any one thing, but it doesn't do anything injustice either. The body makes it just filling enough that it could stand on its own on a hot day, but it's not so filling that you couldn't also have some cook-out food with it too. I like it. I'd like to keep it around during the summer months. It's a nice beer that's a little richer, a little more complex than your standard hefeweizen or witbier.

• Appearance: Hazy straw-amber; head is only a ring.
• Smell: Suddenly, bananas. A swirl to stir up some head yields more of the spice character.
• Taste: Spicy like a Hoegaarden rather than a Blue Moon. The wheat is surrounded by the spice, which really has all the exits covered. The banana is far more subdued in the palate than in the nose. I found a little bit of plum on the back end.
• Mouthfeel: Creamy and smooth, it gains some volume in the mouth, giving it a rather white-bread-y sensation. Fairly filling.
• Drinkability and Overall: OG 1.084, 9%ABV, 34.2 IBU. Pretty interesting across the gamut of sensations. I like it, and I think it could fit in a lot of situations. Too high for an all-nighter, but it'd be a nice way to kick it off.