After the happy hour at Station 220 ended, where I had the Boulder Freshtracks and a bottle of Old Rasputin, I still had a little bit of time. So, I ran by Medici in Normal to grab a beer during “Wednesday Warriors” (where if you have a beer on 10 Wednesdays during the year you get a t-shirt and discounts). Now the first beer I ordered ran out (just the luck I was having if you read my last post), and they had a bunch of Lagunitas beers on tap, so I went for this one.

Location: On tap and served in a regular pint glass at Medici in Normal, IL.

Numbers: 7.5%, 220 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s golden in color with some orange-amber hues and there’s a half-inch thick, foamy white head on it that retained for a little bit and left a good amount of lacing on the glass. There was an obvious floral-citrus hop aroma with some hints of pine as well.

Taste & Feel: The body is light (especially for a beer this big) and the mouthfeel is somewhat smooth with a little bit of carbonation tingle. The flavor up front is a mix of bready-biscuity maltiness with a citrusy hoppiness. The citrusy hop flavors were joined by some floral and piney hoppiness in the middle, with some of the same flavors and bitterness growing in the somewhat smooth and lightly dry finish. The citrusy and lightly piney flavors last for a bit in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer has a good amount of citrusy hop flavors with pine and flavor tones in the background. With these types of hoppy flavors, I prefer a fish dish. With some maltiness and the bigger-than-usual hop flavors, I’d go with a breaded fish dish, using the breading to knock down the citrusy flavors a bit and bring out the malts a bit more.

Overall Impression: I was first surprised by the light body in this beer, despite being listed at 7.5% ABV. Then I didn’t realize it was a wheat beer until later, as the body, nor the flavors gave any hint of that. Although these characteristics were a bit perplexing, it was a very easy, drinkable beer, that I think would be great during the summertime. I enjoyed the light and smooth citrusy hop flavors mixed with some piney and floral hints. It’s sort of an IPA that tastes and feels like a hoppy pale ale.

My Rating:

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