I spent all afternoon at the fire department working on a video for work (see the completed video about heart health with the fire department). It was fulfilling, but exhausting. I stopped on way home to pick up dinner for my family. I had a free pizza coupon, and decided to sit and have craft beer while waiting for my food. I really wanted the Goose Island barleywine on tap, but decided to go with this one first.

Location: On tap and served in a tumbler style pint glass at Joe’s Stationhouse Pizza Pub in Normal, IL.

Numbers: 6.4% ABV, 60 IBUs, ~200 Calories

Ingredients: Malt: Pale, Crystal, Munich; Hops: Citra, Mosaic, Nugget.

Appearance & Aroma: It’s crystal clear and amber-orange in color. There was almost no head on it, just a ring or bubbles around edges. Despite that, it left some lacing. There’s also a bright grassy, lightly-floral hop aroma.

Taste & Feel: It has a medium body and a crisp mouthfeel. There’s a sweet hop juiciness and maltiness detectable through the crispness up front. It’s bitter in the middle, but the hop flavors become sweeter and more flavorful in end. The bitterness comes in again and grows through finish, which is sticky, with a grassy-floral juiciness. The hop flavors and sweetness last for a couple minutes in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer has a good amount of sweet hop juiciness, which I though would pair nicely and balance with pork tenderloin or honey baked ham.

Overall Impression: This beer has a pretty good hop flavor and bitterness balance. It’s a pretty bright beer, and with these types of hop flavors, I think it would make a great summertime IPA. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, and might look for a 6 pack of this during the summer.

My Rating:

Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]