It feels like it’s been a day of running my son around to stuff. I’m back at Medici to pick him up from a party. He’s not ready to go yet, so conveniently, I’ll have a beer while I’m waiting. While I like the beers here at Medici, they tend to have the same breweries represented on their taps. This is the first time I’d seen a Surly beer on tap here, and it looked like a good one to try while I waited.

Location: On tap and served in a snifter style glass at Medici in Normal, IL.

Numbers: 7.2% ABV, ~230 Calories

Ingredients: Golden Promise malt, Citra and Mosaic hops

Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange in color and fairly hazy. The head fell rather quickly to absolutely nothing, but it made room for a big citrusy aroma.

Taste & Feel: The body is light-medium and the mouthfeel is a bit oily from the hops. The flavor up front is almost all citrusy, with some hints of light malty graininess behind it. The citrus is a bit orange-flavored in the middle, and opens up a lot in the finish. The finish is a bouquet of citrusy flavors mixing grapefruit and pineapple with hints of lemon and orange. The citrus flavors and some bitterness linger in the aftertaste for a minute or so.

Food Pairing: This is a super citrusy beer, so it needs a light, but solid pairing. I’d pair this beer with a tuna steak or salad with a light meat or fish mixed in.

Overall Impression: This beer is all about the late addition hops – Citra and Mosaic – with big citrusy flavors of orange, grapefruit, and pineapple. I enjoyed this beer, but think it would be even better on the beach on a hot day. Overall, it was a good beer, which was all about these hops.

My Rating: