Halcyon - Tallgrass Brewing Co., Manhattan

Tallgrass is a small brewery in Manhattan, Kansas that has been setting beer in Kansas City for a few years now. They've got a half dozen beers in cans now and they're starting to do some pretty interesting things. One of their least interesting beers, an unfiltered wheat, was retired a little while back by the brewery after citing "shelf instability." Halcyon is the reincarnation of Tallgrass' original, horrible, unfiltered wheat. After about a year off the market, why did Tallgrass decide to even make another Wheat Beer? Boulevard pretty much has the market cornered with their Wheat, so if you're going to introduce a new unfiltered wheat, you've got to do something different in order to get people to pay attention to you. So, is Halcyon worth picking up instead of Boulevard Wheat or is it just another iteration of the original Tallgrass Wheat?

Halcyon pours a very cloudy golden orange color and settles nearly opaque. There's just a thin sudsy head of white bubbles sitting on top of this beer but it leaves behind a fair bit of lacing behind. The aroma of the Halcyon is only vaguely similar to other Wheat Beers I've had recently. This beer smells a lot more pale than I was expecting. It doesn't seem like it's wrong or out of place at all, it smells good but not quite like I was expecting.

Tallgrass' newest Wheat Beer is actually pretty good... but, just like the aroma, the flavor of this beer is a bit more pale than wheat. When you take a sip of Halcyon you'll get a subtle sweetness of wheat malt right up front which is followed by a substantial amount of paler malt. If I were tasting this beer blind I would definitely guess it was a slightly sweeter Pale Ale. This is a tasty session beer, it's light and very drinkable, but I don't know that I'd rush out and pick up more if I were really looking for a Wheat Beer. I do think Tallgrass did a great job setting this beer apart from Boulevard Wheat with a healthy addition of pale malt. I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this beer to my friends who are looking for something a little different to enjoy on a warm day. Halcyon is approachable and inoffensive but still a little interesting.