Posted By kkozlen on Jul 27, 2012 | 1 comment

My family and I left for vacation today to spend a week on Madeira Beach, Florida.  We’ve driven about 10 hours today and arrived at my friend Joe’s place in Atlanta.  We’re crashing here for the night before finishing our trip tomorrow.  Joe knew that there was nothing I wanted more after the long drive than a good beer.  He offered a bunch of different beers, and I decided to go with this one before going to bed.

Location: Poured into a pint glass from the bottle at Joe’s apartment in Atlanta, GA.

Numbers: 4.68% ABV, 16 IBUs, 12 degrees OG, 3 degrees FG, 5 SRM, 147 Calories

Ingredients: Grains: Pale barley & white wheat; Hops: High Alpha Bittering, no aroma

Appearance & Aroma: The color was golden and it was slightly hazy.  It had a fizzy head, which fell pretty quickly to almost nothing with no retention, but appeared to have a good amount of carbonation in it.  The aroma was lightly bready and citrusy.

Taste & Feel: The body was light and the mouthfeel was very crisp from the carbonation.  Up front it was crisp and a bit sharply citrusy, followed by a little bit of wheaty breadiness in the middle with the citrusy flavors carrying throughout.  In the finish, some of the spiciness came though, and the citrusy sweetness became a bit sharp and tart with some , ending with quite a bit of dryness.

Food Pairing: This was a very light and crisp beer, with some bright tartness and spiciness.  Therefore, I’d go with something lighter and slightly fruity to match it.  I’d pair this beer with an apple-spiced pork roast, as the apple and spice would match this beer nicely, and the pork would provide a good base for the mix of flavors.

Overall Impression: The beer was very light and crisp with plenty of carbonation, making it refreshing and drinkable.  After my first few sips of this beer, I almost thought it was a Berlinerweiss, as it almost seemed to have the same type of sweetness and tartness, especially when mixed with the .  As I had a bit more, the citrusy crispness became a bit more defined.  While it was light, crisp, and drinkable, and good on a hot summer day, my preference would be for something a bit less bright and tart.

My Rating: