Wells Banana Bread Beer
For the life of me, I cannot remember who originally mentioned Wells Banana Bread Beer to me. I know it was some time ago, but can’t recall the details. At any rate, the suggestion stuck with me through several hundred trips to a variety of beer stores, until I happened across a bottle just the other day.
Part of me is glad that I eventually found it and tried it out in all it’s banana-y glory, but most of me wishes I had left it on the shelf. There’s just so much banana in this brew that unless you are a die-hard fan of the fruit, this brew might be a bit too much for you — as it was for me.
Appearance
The brew pours a crystal clear, light amber in color with a large white head that faded to a decent lace.
Aroma
Oh man, you can smell the banana the moment the seal on the cap is broken. There is a load of the fairtrade bananas that the brewery makes the beer with, as well as a nice bready malt component in the background — giving it a very banana bread like character.
Taste
While I wasn’t a big fan of the overall flavor palate, it doesn’t have as strong of a banana flavor as I was fearing. That said, the banana presence is still pretty damn strong. The combination of the overload of the fruit and toasted malt do give the beer a banana bread like character, but my wife’s baked version (with chocolate chips no less) is so much better. There’s a light hop presence in the lingering finish.
Overall
I’m glad to say I finally tried this beer. I’m also glad it wasn’t so bad that I was forced to dump it, but when all is said and done, it’s a gimmicky brew that I’m sure has a cult following of some sort. It’s just not for me.
Rating: 2.5/5