Svyturys White Baltas Review

Svyturys Kvietinis Alus

Lithuania

Unfiltered Wheat Ale

5% abv

500ml bottle

Four pack $8.99

Appearance: dense dusty orange body with a massive yet perfect head, make sure to swirl the bottle to get the sediment off the bottom of the bottle (it’s unfiltered), the head crown was perfect sitting on top; 

the head retention is as good as it gets – it hangs around forever; best looking beer that I have seen in a while;

Check out the difference in the cloudiness in these two pictures

(above) First pour from the bottle into the glass while leaving an inch or so of beer in the bottle – then stop pouring and swirl the bottle - then pour the last bit into the glass to get the sediment into your beer

In this second picture the body clarity is more dense 

and the body color moves from a lighter golden to a deeper golden

Aroma: big wheat profile; some fresh wheat mixed with some dusty (lightly earthy) wheat; there is a soft orange peel might be closer to orange meat; what I don’t get is: lemon, coriander, clove, banana, grapefruit and whatever else I have seen on Beer Advocate,

Flavors: once again fairly simple; wheat profile with a soft citrus style; the soft citrus reminds me of … well … okay here is what it does not remind me of: lemon, orange, grapefruit, banana – people go taste and smell a banana and then smell and taste this beer – there are no bananas; so let me call it a soft orange peel – okay folks it is not even close to being an Oberon from Bell’s – not that much orange – so, to me that means it is better;

Here is a pic from last week  - a perfect .5L pour

Mouthfeel: fresh wheat upfront; dusty wheat on the mid; earthy wheat on the finish – with a dirty yet tart wheat on the late finish and aftertaste; to me there is not a clear clove taste or aroma but, on the finish and aftertaste, when the beer warms up, the tartness becomes a bit more astringent like clove without the clear clove taste. There is a fine fizzy feel from the carbonation.

That head retention is still there on the last inch or so
and I did not swirl the glass to pick it up

To the Point: Beer Advocate gave it an 82 and rate beer gave it a low rating; ah the hell with them to me this is pure wheat pleasure without all the other flavors; I am going to make this my beer for the summer of 2014; from the fresh wheat on the delivery to the dusty and earthy style on the finish to the sweet wheat on the tip to the earthy yet dirty wheat on the aftertaste – I just like this wheat beer because it seems to be all about the wheat.  I am giving it an 89 … no I’ll go with 91 … let’s split the difference 90% A- all the way – and I am rating it just as a wit beer not as a hefeweizen like some of the people on BA think it is … it is a witbier or wheat beer. 

This ale comes in a four pack and I have finished about four of them – four, four packs that is – no not today over the last two months – and I did share with some friends.