Victory Moonglow Weizenbock (doppelweizen)

It has been almost two years since I last saw Moonglow, one of the few all-American doppelweizens widely available in the U.S.  I think many American breweries don't want to even bother trying when everybody can find the real-deal German stuff easily, virtually all of them better than any American version.  Formerly available in six-packs, this 8%+ alcohol wheat beer is now a fall release in four-packs.

Like virtually all weissbier, Moonglow is cloudy.  Very cloudy; the pictures don't do it justice.  The pseudo-brown hue looks darker than many doppelweizens, but the light betrays its true red color when held alongside.  The head is large, fluffy and slightly off-white, with a bit of lacing.

Moonglow's aroma comes closer to classic Bavarian wheat beers than many American takes on the style.  Bananas, wheat bread, and banana bread all strike the nose first.  Caramel follows unexpectedly, with a hint of...cake?  Maybe.  The clove flavor so commonly present in Bavarian wheat beer is there but indistinctly so.  Just a faint spice sensation is all it is, really.  I could just as easily describe it as a pinch of ginger, allspice, or [insert X spice here].  A faint sensation of honey rounds the smell out.

Much of the aroma faithfully translates to the flavor.  As expected, bananas and wheat jump out at the taste buds from the start.  Here the wheat more closely resembles wheat thins or wheat crackers rather than bread.  A hint of warming from the alcohol briefly dukes it out with phenolic spice (and now I can more clearly appreciate clove flavors) before losing to an alliance of banana and clove.  Hops are not discernible, nor should they be expected.  The finish is lightly tangy and dripping with clove now.

Moonglow's largest deviation from German wheat beer is its texture, but even there it's not much of a problem.  It aims for the fluffy character of the best German wheat beers and falls short, but it's among the stars.  The cardinal sin here is a slightly over-thick body that is more filling than I want my weissbier.

This is an American doppelweizen, traditionally made, that you can let your German friends taste without a hint of shame.  It's no Vitus but frankly if that's your basis of comparison you will almost always be disappointed.


Prost!