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It feels like a good day for a blonde ale. I'm not sure if there is a specific time of year that a blonde ale is supposed to be enjoyed during, but it's a warm summer evening here, and I'm going to be drinking one. As I am a style setter for everyone in my immediate orbit, this is the declaration going forward. We will enjoy blonde ales on warm summer evenings. Not hot. Not cool. Just warm. I suppose I can probably allow for some wiggle room on the time of year, so long as the temperature is appropriate.
She's a dirty blonde. There is haze that has been added to the beer, and the haze combines with the somewhat yellow-gold color to make it look like what it would consider a dirty blonde. It produces the head that you see in the picture toward the bottom of this review, but the head doesn't seem to last very long; however, points of nucleation will reassure the drinker that this beer has carbonation. And it seems like those points of nucleation will be cascading bubbles for quite some time. I don't know how to describe the smell other than very clean, as lemons seem to be growing out of the grains in a way that really makes me think about household cleaners above other things. I shouldn't mean that in a bad way, as is also kind of reminds me of the smell I get from a hard lemonade. But this one has grains behind it, and that maybe making it superior.
First sip is crisp and clean, and this may be the best beer I've had from good old Edmond. The zesty lemons aren't overwhelming at all, and the grains in the malt are also managing to be very sublime. Speaking of lime, I think the lemons got joined by some lime, and the drink is better for it. I'm going to keep drinking this beer, but I'm going to start gulping. For anyone who finds this as their first review on this site, I don't know what you've been doing with your life, and I also always do this.
Tip-in is grains, wheatgrass, and lemon spritz. The middle opens up into a sweet concoction of fruits and the malt turning a little doughy. The finish is where bitterness lies, but it is very well restrained as the fruits in the now grainy dough head into the trail off.
Bottom Line: Very nice.
4.0/5
