Beer Review: Wet Ticket’s Tastes Like the Tropics Mango Wheat Ale

Name: Tastes Like the Tropics Mango Wheat Ale
Brewing Company: Wet Ticket Brewing
Location: Rahway, NJ
Style: Wheat Beer – American Pale Wheat
ABV: 4.7%

Wet Ticket Brewing releases another delicious summer/warm weather wheat ale, with the perfect amount of mango.

WetTicket_TastesLIkeTropics

From the untappd page for the beer:

The name, “Tastes Like The Tropics,” really says it all. An enticing upfront Mango aroma leads to a very pleasantly balanced and refreshing beer. Kudos to all the people who provided their input as we went through three “Test Ticket,” versions in order to help us finalize the recipe. We think you nailed it.

Playing off their popular Tastes Like Summer – Watermelon Wheat beer, Wet Ticket introduced this beer, Tastes Like The Tropics – Mango Wheat Ale in the Spring of 2022. Well, more properly, Tim Pewitt and his crew released the final version to the public at that time. Wet Ticket does several test batches in their brewery known as Test Tickets, where they ask for feedback from their patrons. One of the final products of those “Test Tickets” is this sweet and well-balanced beer perfect for warm weather. Let’s unpack that a bit.

The base beer is a “Pale Wheat Ale” in other words, an Americanized Hefeweizen. I’ve had, and thoroughly enjoyed, Wet Ticket’s Hefweizen so the beer is off to a good start, at least in theory. For me, a Hefeweizen is an ideal summer beer, with the balance of clove and banana flavors from the yeast. The addition of Mangoes only amps up the summer feel of this brew.

Pouring the beer from the can into my Wet Ticket glass, I like what I see. I get some aroma of mango, a fruit I enjoy quite a lot. I drink a lot of juice and one I like is called “Mongo Mango” and this beer bears a strong resemblance to that juice with the bright, inviting orange-yellow color. The big difference is the beer is slightly translucent.

First sip is sweetness, a pleasant tropical sweetness from the mango maybe a little bit from the yeast. Mango is a little thicker than most fruits, or rather the juice from a mango has a thicker consistency, if my aforementioned “Mongo Mango” is an indication. That comes through slightly in the beer, but the flavor of the mango shines very nicely. I appreciate that it is strong and present, but not overpowering. That shows great care in crafting the beer and why Tim and his crew go through iterations of their “Test Tickets” before making the beer a more wide release.

Tastes Like The Tropics – Mango Wheat Ale is a quintessential summer beer and a nice companion to Wet Ticket’s hugely popular Watermelon Wheat. Tastes Like The Tropics – Mango Wheat Ale was one of the beers I had in my cooler for the annual summer family party and it didn’t last long, I had to squirrel away a can for myself so to ensure I tried it and I’m very glad I did.

Recommended, link to 4 bottle cap untappd rating check in.