Terrapin Side Project Gamma Ray

Volume 3: The Terrapin Gamma Ray is a massive wheat beer brewed with a obscene amount of locally grown Tupelo and Sourwood Honeys from Savannah Bee Company.

3.4

367 reviews

Athens, United States

Community reviews

3.4 12 oz. bottle. Pour is a hazy rusty gold, with almost no head. Big chunks of sediment. A few bubbles cling to the side and big alcohol kegs present. Smell is strong honey and grape with notes of banana and Belgian yeast. Taste is very sweet throughout. Grapes and banana come through, honey and booze, spices and citrus. It’s different, reminds me a bit if DFH Midas touch but a bit sweeter. Seems like a good dessert beer.

3.6 Best by: week 1, November 2011 10.8% ABV (deviant from BA description as of post). A: Rolls out a rusty golden ale with no head production and a mirror surface. With agitation, a few light toasted bubbles hover momentarily. The beer is hazy with increased opacity near the center. No lace. Needs bubbles, needs lace. S: Bananas, sugar, grass and maybe a hint of gardenia’s; like a really high quality hefeweizen on roids. Actually quite pleasant. the honey doesn’t really come through much for me, just barely perceptible. T: Banana, clove, slight hint of coriander, the wheat is obvious and adds a slight spiciness I did not anticipate. Otherwise, again, this is like a hefe on roids. Not bad, but not particularly unique. M: Thick and creamy with a resonating and appropriate finish which is velvety like a well aged Paso Robles Cab, well done. O: This is admittedly my introduction to the style, and I kinda new what to expect. This is nice, and a decent night cap as I see it, but I wonder what would happen to this beer with time on it. I will have to try more of these to see what the trend is. Serving type: bottle 08-27-2011

2.3 Bottle. Golden in color with white head. Flora aroma. Strong taste of apples and pears. Super sweet aftertaste. Not very good.

3.0 2010 vintage at The Porter. Pours hazy amber with almost no head. Aroma of sweetness and floral. Taste of dark fruits with an undercurrent of alcohol.

3.6 Reviewed 9-2-10. I’m glad to have another date with the Terrapin Brewing Company, one of my new friends in the DC area! Wahoo!! Ap: My bubble glass now looks exactly like a very well carbonated orange. Actually, more carbonation than I expected from an 11% ABV brew. Ar: Banana first, then a tinge of citrus, and then dark fruit (dates and plums specifically). This is surprising, considering the citrus-like color. If I were to close my eyes and someone were to put this up to my nose without me knowing what it was or where it came from, I would have guess it was a Unibroue product. T: Very sweet! Sweet, sweet, sweet! However, that is appropriate for this style. I’m definitely getting upfront honey, and actually more dark fruit now than citrus. P: The sweetness coats a bit, but I still like the carbonation level a lot. O: This brew hides its ABV better than anything I’ve tasted in the last month. Dangerous! This style may not be everyone’s bag, but I’m thoroughly enjoying this one!

3.5 Rated in 2010 (Backlog) - Golden orange in color with a decent sized off-white head. Aroma is of caramel, candy corn and salt water taffy. Taste is of alcohol, very sweet, and malt.

1.1 This is not a wheat ale, it is a wheat wine, think rude nasty american wannah bee barley wine, wew. Too much fer this old fart, quite uncivilized. This looks like a newer bottle to even tho it says retaired. Some of the rudest most boozy beer I’ve had since those couple of merry monk’s I’ve. Me not like the american barley wine style.

4.0 12 oz bottle labelled "Monster Beer Tour". This one has to be a few years old. Pours golden, very little head. Sweet aroma, wheat and citrus. The honey in this seems a little thin, with the smoothness of the wheat really overpowering. Quite good for a strong Wheat Ale.

2.4 From 12oz. bottle as Monster Beer Tour Gamma Ray. Hazy gold, sweet nose. Syrupy, sticky mouthfeel. Boozy finish. Interestingly complex, but I struggled to finish it.

3.7 Poured from 12oz. bottle into pint glass. A: Pours a light amber color with straw-hues around the edges. Half finger is present then dissipates quickly leaving a nice bubbly film over the top. S: Light berries with a sweet honey. Citrus with a booze background rounds it out. T: Sweet honey with yeast backbone. Nice fruity citrus with a great wheat accent also. A nice combination of cherries and oranges. The slight booze comes through with a nice finish that ties it all together. M: Medium bodied with a heavier carbonation. Nice smooth drinkability and the lasting sweetness is nice tough on the tongue. O: This was a very interesting brew. It wasn’t as bold as a barleywine, but wasn’t as light as a wheat ale. The description fits this perfectly and the extra sweetness from the honey makes this a very drinkable brew. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 06-03-2011

3.7 Fairly clear amber pour. Lots of honey on the nose. Citrus. Dark fruits and banana as well. Didnt get a huge amount wheat taste. Has Belgian spiciness that complements floral, caramel, and big honey tastes. It has a nice touch of carbonation that gives it a very drinkable quality and prevents it from getting to sticky sweet. No hint of the big alcohol at all. Great! We were lucky enough to have some of the same Savannah Bee Co honey to eat with cheese while were drinking it. Quite a treat.

3.6 28th November 2009 Hazy amber beer. Honey on the nose. Light semi dry palate. Light floral honey with a little pepper underneath. In the middle of all this is some subtle orange. Finishes soft and dry with more aromatic honey. The honey is very nicely judged throughout. A little light aniseed alcohol coming through in the finish, but it blends in well.

3.1 Poured a cloudy dark-yellow color with a small but fluffy white head. Aroma was sweet, super sweet notes of malt. There was a lot of heat in there, even from just the aroma. Flavor was malty, with a bunch of sweetness to it. A bit hot for me, but worth trying.

3.1 Originally reviewed: 6/11/09. Surprised to find a bottle of this still on the shelf at Bestway in Greensboro. Pours a cloudy orange-gold with just a ring of head on the top. No lacing. Slightly cloudy. Smells of honey-kissed breads, yeast, apples, and flowers. Mouthfeel is a little too spritzy for my liking. Like a soda. Flavors are of pear, apples, Belgian yeast, and finishes very spicy. The Belgian in this beer abounds. I was not expecting that. This is really isn’t what I was expecting at all. It’s boozy, it’s spicy, and it’s bubbly. Different.

3.5 Bottle. Poured a clear medium orange color. The head was thin, white and fleeting. Smelled of sweet cream, wheat, and copper with hints of graham and lemon. Medium to full bodied and sweet with a warming alcohol effect. Carbonation was on the lower end of the spectrum. Honey (almost mead-ish), fleshy fruit, toffee, subdued grain alcohol flavors. Not bad.

3.8 aroma, sweet honey banana esters, color, light amber nice froth head but quickly fades, taste sweet clover flower honey on front, banana in middle, honey sryup on the back, overall not bad neat brew different!

3.5 Bottle 33 cl, Total Wines Boca Raton. Pours hazy orange amber with a minimal rim of beige bubbles. Aroma is sweet vinous honey raisins molassis yeasty wheaty fruity bready. Flavor is sweet phenolic fruity fidges raisins wheaty yeasty spicy caramel honey acidy and bitter. Finishes sweet malty and bitter. Very drinkable and no sign if the 10,8 % ABV , quite nice actually.

3.8 Old review from 2009 - Gamma Ray pours a hazy honey color. Barely any head is poured. Whatever head is poured quickly disappears into a thin film that sits on top. Smell on this beer has a huge herbal and spice aroma. This beer is brewed 2 kinds of honey and it shows really well. Aroma has a nice wheat background with a mixture of banana. Overall it’s a big smell. Biggest smell I’ve noticed from any Wheatwine I’ve ever had. Taste is just as big. It’s big but really tasty at the same time. Up front is the spiciness of the beer. It just sits there right in front of the sweet sweet honey. Once in a while a little bit of alcohol will peak through. Definitely a big beer and a sipper. This beer is medium bodied, crisp but smooth. Goes away to easy for 11%.

3.6 355 ml bottle as Monster Beer Tour Gamma Ray. Slightly hazy golden body with a small white head. Both aroma and flavor is dominated by honey, not too intense and rather pleasant, as I prefer a rather moderate amount of honey in my beer. Still there is obvious a big mount of honey here, but the flavor is more integrated with the beer itself somehow. But the beer style is not too clear, I actually didn’t now this was based on a Wheat Ale. Did not recognize the wheat style here at all, could easily be a fruity pale ale with hint of caramel and ripe fruit. This is also a very sweet beer, but balancing quite well with warming alcohol. Does not feel too sweet or to alcoholic. Interesting and nice for a few sips, but I think a whole bottle may be a bit too much for me.

2.8 Poured into a shaker glass from a 12 ounce bottle with a notch at the month 11. A: Murky amber color with no head at all. Very boring looking. S: Very sweet honey with a very ripe pineapple scent, actually overripe. This is very syrupy smelling and unappealing. T: Very sweet malts up front with a huge honey sweetness, it finishes fruity with hints of very overripe pineapple or apples. It’s a syrupy mess basically, but not a drainpour. M: Thick and syrupy, no carbonation present. O: This is an old bottle but Terrapin claims this can be aged for 2-3 years, I don’t agree at all. This is a syrupy mess and the carbonation didn’t hold at all, which is the only thing that could make this somewhat decent.

4.6 Smooth palate with a strong smell of green apple. It heavily tastes of caramel, vanilla, butterscotch and a touch of citrus. I really like it. It’s complex without being too sweet. I would buy again.

3.6 Found this beer at a local Fresh Market. It’s an old one, at least a year, the label has mold on it!!! But at 10.8% I figured it would be okay. I found it mixed in with other terrapin beers in a mix your own 6 pack section. It’s head it completely lacking... Has notes similar to a sweet hefeweizen. Banana/bubble-gum. It looks orange and clear. It’s actually relatively subtle. A lot of people have written about it having a chemical flavor and being cloyingly sweet, maybe this one is actually two years old? Seems to have evened out compared to the descriptions I read. Definitely an alcohol presences there, nice and warming like a Belgian style Christmas ale!

1.8 This bottle is at least 18 months old. A sweet, syrupy mess. I didn’t enjoy this at all. I remember this being better the first bottle I drank fresh but nothing I wrote down.

2.4 Overly sweet astringent and messy. Tastes like a wheat syrup with a spritz of pineapple juice. Not my thing at all.

2.4 12 oz, kinda old bottle. Smallsnlike beligan golden yeast. Very sweet. Honey. Syrupy. Chemical flavOr in there. Very bad.

3.3 Location: 12 oz bottle from Buy Rite, 1/7/12, as Terrapin Monster Beer Tour Gamma Ray Aroma: The nose is rather sweet, with lots of honey, wheat, a little spice, and some booze Appearance: The pour is a clear orange color with a small white head and almost no lacing Flavor: Tastes rather sweet as well, some honey, fruit, and what flavors balanced by a light a spice hop Palate: The body is medium, it might be a little too sweet, but it isn’t quite cloying, with medium-heavy heat Overall Impression: I thought this was a pretty solid wheat wine, but it lacks a little bit in the way of balance. The spice provides a little balance, but it is still dominated by the sweetness. I thought it could have used a touch more hop balance. Still though, I found it to be a decently enjoyable offering.

4.1 Bottle found while on holiday in FL. Hazy golden color with minimal white head. The nose is very sweet - peaches, maple syrup, some caramel and pineapple. The taste is assertive, strongly sweet with strong alcohol notes. The palate is full, the texture a bit oily, the finish a bit hot. Overall, quite impressive.

3.6 Fresh 12oz FL bottle. Slightly hazy gold color with a small white head. Big sweet, wheaty aroma. Big, bold flavor...seriously hits hard. Finish is alcohol warmth and honey. This is like someone crossbred a barley wine and mead...in a good way.

3.3 Got a single twelve ounce bottle just to check it out. I’ve never had a wheat wine before this so decided to give it a shot. Pours a clear brass color with a small head with no retention. Smells almost identical to a nice mead. Tastes of a nice wheat ale but has that additional honey flavor. A little to sweet for my taste. Mouthfeel is a bit thin and the alcohol content a bit too high. All in all not terrible not something that sticks out too much either.

3.4 got this beer as an extra from a super generous trader. This beer was poured from a cool 12 oz bottle, I love all the terrapin labels (will always make a trade for some more terrapin brews!!!). pours a cloudy orange with NO head. I smell a ton of sweet honey with a kinda boozy wheat after smell. Taste is hot with a bunch of sweet honey, very thick in the mouth. This beer is nice but has some heat on it. Still very enjoyable because the honey really balances it nicely.