Style: Witbier
Brewery: Rocket Brewing Company
Origin: Sweden
Size: 33cl
Alcohol: 5.4%
Price: 35kr
Systembolaget: 35957
One of the nicest things about the craft beer scene nowadays is that it is always changing. It feels like new breweries are popping up every month, with interesting twists on classic beer styles. I was only recently introduced to this brewery when I had a small tasting at home and enjoyed their beers. I knew that I wanted some sort of pumpkin beer in the Halloween tasting, and so this seemed to be a great fit! Furthermore, I thought the pumpkin could work nicely with the fruity and spicy characters of the witbier.
The bottle absolutely exploded when I opened it. The top was forced off with so much force it actually hurt my hand and I don’t think I’ve ever had that before! I wasn’t sure if this was a sign of mere over carbonation or something worse, such as some sort of infection. The colour of the beer didn’t give any clues, with the classic hazy straw colour of the witbier present, along with the telltale large frothy head. The usual aroma of overripe banana was present straight away, but a definite earthy edge of wet moss was also present which I originally presumed was from the pumpkin. After a few sips though I was not entirely sure though. The banana continued into the taste and was coupled with a spicy edge of cloves and pepper. A big chest burn came through quite rapidly though and I highly doubt that was supposed to be there. Slowly a buttery sweetness came through after swallowing to leave the palate with a rather large funk.
I hate to say it, but I believe this beer was infected. The exceptionally high carbonation coupled with the high burn and big moss notes really leads me to believe it was. Maybe there was a problem with the pumpkin causing some sort of extra reaction within the beer, but something wasn’t right there. I hope it was just my bottle that had a problem, but I have a feeling it might not have been. Disappointing.