Beer: Weyerbacher Fourteen
Brewery: Weyerbacher Brewing Company 
Wheat Wine is a truly American craft beer concoction and there are not many beer styles that can be attributed specifically to the United States. One of the better beer stories of the last decade occurred with Smuttynose Brewing Company’s Wheat Wine vs. the stupidity that is the Federal Government of the United States. Weyerbacher Brewing Company is located in Easton Pennsylvania. They make a wide array of beers, and I think their willingness to go to varying styles is what makes them worth seeking out. I have had a bit of an on and off relationship with the brewery in terms of their offerings. Their Belgian Strong Ale, Quad, is easily one of a hand full of wow beer experiences I have had in my craft beer drinking life. Their Belgian Tripel Merry Monks is worth seeking out (particularly if you can grab the 750 corked and caged bottles) while Double Simcoe is a tropical fruit hop cocktail for the Double IPA crowd.
Appearance: Extremely clear golden to light amber, slightly tan white head, breaks away quickly. Orange highlights, decent effervescence. No lacing.
Aroma: Candy apples, granny smith apple, jolly ranchers, green banana. Fusel alcohol (solvent characteristics) and a generally spicy alcohol waft leading the aroma. Some cherry notes, no hops to speak of. Much more akin to German Hefe-Weizen aroma than American Wheat Ale. 
Flavor: Upfront the first sip is a wash of alcohol heat over the tongue and harsh to the back of the throat. Mix of banana, cherry, some coconut. Very ester heavy profile that includes some slick oily solvent character too. Alcohol lends a spicy note, like a Belgian strong ale. Some bitterness, but much more prominent alcohol in the finish, the sweetness is washed out by the alcohol.
Mouthfeel: Moderate to light carbonation. Medium body thinned out by the prominent alcohol presence. The oily fusel coating on the tongue lends to an unsteady finish.
Overall Impression: Rough around the edges. Needs time to mellow out the higher alcohols which dominate the nose and palate. Ideally the carbonation and other positive flavor characteristics will wait out much-needed cellaring. The beer appears to have been made with a standard Hefe-Weizen yeast strain vs. an American Ale yeast. The latter with proper conditions would provide a cleaner profile, I don’t know that the traditional German wheat strains can really handle much above the 7-8% abv range before stressing in fermentation. That appears to be what happened here in my opinion.
Cellaring Recommendation: Fourteen was released early in the summer of 2009, part of an annual series of special anniversary beers from the brewery. I have to admit I was not fond of Eleven nor Twelve and skipped thirteen altogether. This is easily the best of the few I have sampled but it needs more time for truly enjoyable drinking. If you have some currently I’d wait at least another six months if not a year for this beer to be cracked open at this time.
Tasting Date: March 23, 2010
Next Projected Tasting: May/June 2011
