Tail Waggin' Double White Ale - Grand Teton Brewing Co., Victor

Grand Teton is a bit of an unknown... I've had one of their beers before, their Au Naturale Organic Blonde. Well, I had a sample of it at a beer festival. Organic beers are pretty hit or miss so I wouldn't want to judge a brewery by their one off. So I went into this big 750 of Tail Waggin' Double White with an open mind. I've had a few double Witbiers before so I had an idea of what I wanted to taste in this beer. I was hoping it'd be sweet, tart, a little sour and be smooth throughout. Opening this capped 750ml bottle was a bit anticlimactic because there was no Wit aroma there to greet me...

Even after pouring this beer into my tulip glass and swirling it around a bit, there wasn't much of an aroma... I got noticed some banana, possibly lemon, and some other vaguely sour ripe fruit. No malt or hops on the nose really, it was a little disappointing but I've run into this before and it isn't always an indication that the beer is a dud. I moved on and took a sip from my tulip glass.

The flavor of the Tail Waggin' Double White was right in line with what I'd expected, if a little sweeter and more well balanced. The first impression you get of this beer when you drink it is a crisp pale maltiness and tart lemon zest. It sounds like a harsh combination but it's really well balanced with the follow through flavors of banana and coriander. All the flavors play very well together and I found them all to be in just the right proportions.

I'm glad this beer is called a Double White rather than an Imperial because that'd seem too harsh a descriptor for this beer. This is basically a Witbier with more of what you like about Witbiers. It's great, very drinkable and well balanced. It's big but it isn't extreme, and I really enjoyed it.