I’m back from my family vacation, and it’s taken me a week to adjust. I was able to smuggle several beers out of Florida and bring them back home to add to the list. I bought a 6-pack of this beer my first night in Florida and was planning to review it down there. However, I drank these mostly at night, so it wasn’t ideal to take a picture. I thought about getting more when I visited Cigar City Brewing my last day there, but ended up picking up several other bottles instead.

Location: Poured into a curved pint glass from the bottle on my deck in Bloomington, Illinois.

Numbers: 7.5% ABV, 70 IBUs, 18% OG, 10 SRM, 225 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s a bit orange in color and slightly hazy, with some visible sediment at the bottom of the glass. It’s got a thin head which fizzled quickly to just a ring around the glass. However, it does appear to have plenty of carbonation in it. It’s got a citrusy hop aroma with some hints of earthiness, honey and bread.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, with a little bit of carbonation bite. The flavors up front are somewhat sweet, like honey, bread, and wheat. In the middle, a big sweet citrusy hop flavor comes in and continues through the finish. The beer finishes dry with bitterness and the juicy-fruit citrusyness takes over and continues for quite a while in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer has a huge juicy-fruit, citrus hop flavor, and it would need something big and hearty to match it. I would probably go with a burger and fries, just to cut through the big citrusy aftertaste, the the dryness in the finish would prepare you for another bite.

Overall Impression: Without a doubt, this beer is a big juicy-fruit citrus hop bomb. The big citrusy hop flavors rush in during the middle and take over, lasting for quite a while even after you finished each drink. Overall, I thought it had a very good, interesting hop flavor and it’s definitely one hop heads will enjoy.

My Rating:

Reader Ratings[five-star-rating]