Keep that Damn Fruit Out of My Beer

I hate fruit in my beer.

Seriously.

Beer has a flavor. Drink it for what it is.

That said I have never had a beer call out for lemon quite the way the Harpoon UFO White does.

First let's take care of some house keeping:


Harpoon UFO White is the hefeweizen version of Harpoon UFO. That means a number of things, but mostly that means that it's made with wheat. The fact that it's made with wheat means that it forms a seriously frothy white head in the glass. (If you're in a bar you're getting a 12 once pour... Sorry) In the picture to the right, the head is diminished by the lemon...It was to the rim of the glass 2 minutes before.

The color is a murky straw. This is not a clear beer; It's not supposed to be.  The nose is pretty mild, and by pretty mild I mean that Sioux is laughing as I type this because she just caught me huffing beer. If pushed I'd say that there are hints of clover. Maybe.

It's flavor is also pretty mild. Our resident Bud-Light drinker likes it. There are some definite citrus notes. Lime maybe? and I can almost taste just the beginning of the famous hefeweizen banana taste. The beginning. Almost. The over riding taste is citrus and the carbonic acid formed by the CO2 in solution. Yes, the fizzy bubbles cause a tart flavor in all beer and soda. You can taste that in this beer. Seriously. Gotta say that it's a clean fermentation.
  
When drinking this beer you can practically taste the hole where the lemon is supposed to go, so I had to give it some. Frankly I think this is best with a lemon wedge on the edge of the glass so you can smell it, but not actually in the beer. With the smell it was very satisfying. Once the lemon actually mingled with the beer it felt, well, like a shandy.

Over all, its a great refreshing summer beer that anyone can drink, and while it would not be my desert island beer, I did buy 5 gallons of it to drink before and after my upcoming trip.

4.5 out of 5. Tasty.