Ox Hefeweizen - Oxford / Clipper City Brewing Company (Baltimore, MD)

Sharpness (via carbonation) and yeastiness (of course) dominate this particular variation on the venerable hefeweisse.  It's certainly a passable summer beer, but the body is perhaps a little heavy for the humidity of a Washington, DC summer.

Characteristics: Cloudy gold color, heavy body, high carbonation, yeasty / smoky finish on a sharp citrusy start.

Minor Gripes:  This beer approaches porter-weight instead of staying in the pils/amber range -- perhaps it's the yeast (and my insistence on spinning the bottle to get all the yeast out).

Bottom Line: A decent if not spectacular variation.  Certainly worth another try sometime before the end of the summer.  Also, you may want to check out the recent NYTimes article (free reg.) for the wine-snobby run at the topic

Rating: 5.5 / 10

Technorati: Clipper City, Oxford, Hefeweizen, Weiss, Baltimore