More journeys through time. Looking back at my original notes on one of Rush River's earliest releases, the Small Axe Golden ale, from August of 2004:Rush River's "own version of the classic hefe weizen with a Midwestern twist", brewed with white wheat from Wisconsin, but only 40% of the grain bill, "engineered to appeal to those favoring a lighter beer." I think they did the trick with this one.
Pours out a pure, golden hue, hazy, with a slim white head, at least in this sampling. Aroma is zesty, and promises some of the typical weizen aromatic delights, but falls a bit short. There's a lively, citric feel in the nose, but it doesn't flower as full as a Bavarian weizen would, nor does it intend to, I hasten to remind myself.
Taste is smooth and lemony, mixed with orange, lacking the twang and the bite one might look for in a hefe, but, again, that's not what this is, it's built for smoothness, and that's what it delivers. There's just enough taste here to make a beer fan happy, and enough lightness to make a non-beer fan satisfied. It's a niche that needs to be entertained, and this will do it. Not if your idea of a "light beer" is yellowy water, though, for the flavor fills the mouth, feels flush with fruit, though never too much, and then mellows, and ultimately finishes dryly. Bright orange and lemon charcter continue throughout the drink.
A very interesting alternative, I'd like to see this as a next step up from "lite beer" drinkers, those who really aren't into hefes, perhaps, but would like a little more in their glass of beer than what BMC are putting out.
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