Belt’s Beer Garden: Isle Be Back

Tallahassee, Florida is the home of Ology Brewing, whose roots can be traced back to Florida State University. Founder/Head Brewer Nick Walker was raised in a family of scientists who, starting with his grandparents in the 1950s, researched the science behind how we experience taste at the university.

Nick opened the brewery in 2017 and produces multiple styles and varieties of beers and even has a kombucha. From what I found, they have a decent distribution network so far - I have seen them in Florida, Illinois, and Tennessee but couldn’t find a list of all the states they’re available in.

Today I have their Reshi Isles, a tart wheat ale brewed with guava, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, and tangerine. It has a 6% ABV and a four-pack of 16-ounce cans costs $17 here in Illinois.

This wheat ale poured a hazy orange color with nearly a finger of head initially building up. The foam is incredibly effervescent and, within ten seconds, it loudly fizzles away into a razor thin ring around the edge of the glass, like a can of soda.

Reshi Isles’ aroma is slightly tart with a plethora of tropical fruits muddled together. Mango and passion fruit are most distinct but every so often a new fruit, like pineapple or tangerine, pops up in the mixture. If you close your eyes and take a big whiff, you can almost imagine relaxing on a tropical beach, sipping on a frozen drink.

Starting off the sip is a big rush of carbonation, fizzling across the tongue. Immediately following that rush of bubbles is a plethora of tropical flavors. Pineapple is much more prevalent in the taste than it was in the smell, leading the way with the mango and passion fruit taking a backseat.

Midway through, there is a little tartness that begins to peak but the brew is never mouth-puckeringly sour...just a little tingle inside your cheeks.

The back half of the sip, once the carbonation is gone, drinks more like a juice than a beer. It’s just a somewhat sweet medley of tropical flavors. But that juice-like quality brings a sticky characteristic to the brew.

And, as the flavors fade away, that stickiness remains...clinging to the tongue for quite a while.

It’s a very solid and easy drinking beer but a bit too sticky and sweet at times. I loved the flavors but it loses a lot of beer qualities and becomes more like a from-concentrate can of juice on the backend.

If you like tropical flavors and wheat ales, it’s certainly worth it. Just has some minor drawbacks with the fruit juices.