I picked up a bottle of Two Brothers Bare Tree 2009 at Whole Foods (a.k.a “Whole Paycheck”) last weekend and was looking forward to opening this unique bottle. This one is vintage 2009, a weiss wine, in a green bottle that’s more like a mini wine bottle. Unfortunately, there is little information on this series from Two Brothers. I would have liked to know more about the beer.
Pours a goldish orangy-brown (what?) with a meek white head than dissipates very quickly and leaves some lace. Now, I’ll be up front about this … I am not a big fan of wheat beers. And I know as much as a napkin about weiss wine. But I love Two Brothers, and my palate is advanced enough to detect the aroma and flavor elements in most beer, so I wanted to give this one a shot.
The nose of the 2009 was very interesting, very aromatic. You’ve got the banana/clove boom like you’d expect, but there were some other elements in there that I had to really think about. What I came up with in the end is a sort of combination of apple and pineapple. My brother said the smell reminded him a little bit of vinegar, and I don’t disagree … but it was faint, if so. Overall the nose delivered a lot of competing notes and did little to prepare me for the taste.
Upon the first sip, you know this beer is made with wheat. That much is easy. But it moves past the banana/clove and adds this quasi-fruity tang. Almost reminiscent of a caramel apple. I expected this “weiss wine” to be sweet, and it was. It’s medium bodied, lightly carbonated (I could have used more bubbles I think) and strong. ABV is not labeled, and I couldn’t find info on it anywhere online. But I’d say ABV is gonna be somewhere in the 8.5-10.0% range.
I decided this is not the style for me. It’s sweet and really heavily flavored, with a higher alcohol content. It’s a sipper … no gulping this one down. It was a little too flat. What it boils down to is whether or not you enjoy the classic banana/clove backbone. If so, you may enjoy the nuances of this Bare Tree Weiss Wine Vintage 2009 more than I. I would be very interested in hearing other opinions of this beer.
ABV: ???
Grade: B-