Blonde IPA
pFriem Family Brewers

Blonde IPABlonde IPA
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From:
pFriem Family Brewers
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
American IPA
Ranked #1,242
ABV:
6.25%
Score:
89
Ranked #12,266
Avg:
3.97 | pDev: 8.31%
Reviews:
20
Ratings:
104
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 10, 2023
Added:
Jul 31, 2012
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  11
The great brewmasters of the Pacific Northwest are reverent of the past and its brewing traditions, but never cease to look forward, tinkering and experimenting to create flavors that are uniquely bold and new. Case-in-point, Pfriem’s Blonde IPA—Its refreshing blast of citrus and secret ingredient (sunshine) will have you looking forward to another before even enjoying its just bitter enough finish.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Moose90:
Photo of Moose90
Reviewed by Moose90 from Washington

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Served On-Tap

A — Pours a clear and bright pale yellow color, pilsner like in appearance with a big billowy white colored head on top and some solid rings of lacing left behind with each sip.

S — Smell is strongly fruity, pungent, and bitter, with lemon and melon notes.

T — Bitter, piney, pungent, resinous, lemony, tropical, melon, juicy, great.

M — Medium bodied, crisp and clean overall.

O — Very nice overall, an odd name, don't think of it as a light IPA, but just as a solid juicy IPA.
May 09, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.04 by DOCRW from Kentucky

Jun 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.23 by rjd722 from Maryland

Jul 16, 2017
Photo of MaltsOfGlory
Reviewed by MaltsOfGlory from Oregon

4.02/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
500ml bottle

Pours a giant two and a half finger white head into my willi glass. The head is very frothy and pillowy looking. Body is a pale blonde, lots of yellow too. Clarity is very high, carbonation also looks extremely high. Head retention is good for now. Good looking beer so far.

Nose has a soft, lightly sweet malt undertone, with a somewhat more than expected hop presence – coming through as dank, zesty and just slightly tropical. Lemon is prominent. It’s a little astringent and rough around the edges for me, also surprising in a “blonde” IPA. That being said, overall this is a nice nose with a strong character.

Flavor is interesting, very sessionable throughout the first half of the palate, some would say “flavorless”, but it’s not that bad in my opinion. A tiny bit minerally. Moderate flavors of dank bitterness and hints of lemon hide in the back ground the whole time, while still remaining noticeable, and providing enough flavor. Finishes with a slew of subtle fruits, mango, kiwi, tropical. This is quite simple but it’s pretty nice, at first glance there wasn’t much flavor until the finish, but the dank hops and lemon definitely started to aid in the main flavor. Pretty clean and sessionable, while still having enough flavor and some tang. It’s certainly a strait forward, streamlines hop profile, but I wasn’t expecting a super complex IPA with “blonde” in the title. I feel like usually this is a beer I wouldn’t like much, but it’s what I was expecting, and it’s refreshing and tasty. Overall, nice taste.

Mouthfeel is pretty good. Carbonation is about medium, maybe medium-high. The body is a tad on the lighter side, but that’s ok for this lighter style IPA. Has a touch of a creamy feel to it. Overall pretty nice.

Drinkability it very good. It’s not a heavy beer, and while it’s light it still has enough flavor to keep me wanting more.

Overall this is a nice beer. Not what I would call your average IPA, but it’s not advertised as such.

Appearance turned out quite nice on this guy. The head had above average retention, and it gave super thick lacing all the way down the glass. Nothing bad to say here, good looking beer.
Jul 06, 2017
Photo of Todd
Reviewed by Todd from Finland

4.26/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
500mL bottle from the brewery.

Pours blonde with a tight, creamy head and awesome lacing. Aroma is bright with citrus rinds, pale malts, ripe melon, and floral notes. Mouthfeel is super smooth and creamy with a pleasing softness and lightish body. Flavors open with delicious fruitiness of ripe stone fruits, some tropical notes, some pine and resin, and a dry bite of citrus and semi-grassy bitterness. Some breadiness in the finish which is quite dry and leaves the palate with some sticky floral flavors.

Aside from its color, I'm not sure what a Blonde IPA is supposed to be. But I love this light, balanced and highly refreshing take on the American IPA style.
Jul 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by CPAles from Illinois

Jun 25, 2017
Photo of BobbyLong
Reviewed by BobbyLong from Oregon

3.91/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Bottled on 04/18/17

Poured a beautifully clear gold into a standard pint glass. About one and a half fingers or head. Medium carbonation.

The smell is orange and grapefruit peel with a slight grassyness.

Tastes of candied citrus peel and almost burnt toasty note at the end.

Mouthfeel is dry, with medium to low carbonation.

A solid IPA. Nothing too groundbreaking here, but it's very solid. No off flavors and very drinkable. I wish they'd make six packs of their beers, because this would be a great afternoon session.
Jun 07, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Kmat10 from Canada (AB)

Apr 23, 2017
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
a very easy drinking and appealing brew, made light and simple but not too dry on the grain base, honey colored and with some texture, but out of the way of a nice big juicy hop complexion that is not only majorly fresh but heavy on the oils, northwestern style, but with more fruity tropical hops than i am used to in more conventional ipa from the region. juicy and somewhat chewy even, feel meets flavor here right in the middle, hints of sweet cooked lemon, fresh pineapple, mango, and concentrated orange juice, as well as honey from the grain, pretty nice complexion overall, definitely distinct, and right on that abv sweet spot where you could drink ten of them and be alright. freshness is the key here, not sure how well it does in the bottle, but fresh on tap at the brewery its nearly perfect for what it is. i could always stand a little more bitterness in these more fruit forward ipa types, but this one is very balanced, especially compared to its peers. fun beer, real well made like all of their stuff!

edit: got a bottle of this that was a few months old and it was terrible. make sure you source it as fresh as possible, as this one doesnt hold up at all! i know freshness always matters with hoppy beer, but this one seems especially exposed to the ravages of time...
Oct 03, 2016
 
Rated: 4.08 by SimcoeKid from California

Sep 24, 2016
Photo of CarolinaCardinals
Reviewed by CarolinaCardinals from North Carolina

3.94/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Picked up a 500 ml bottle from the Welches Thriftaway grocery store yesterday for $4.99. Bottled on 6-8-16.

Beer poured golden with a nice white head that is leaving lacing behind.

Nose is lemony and fresh.

Taste is lemon forward over a pale malt body finishing clean and refreshing.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied and refreshing.

Overall this is a very nice ale that is perfect for a warm 90 degree day in the Cascades!
Aug 26, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by SamuelR from California

Aug 03, 2016
 
Rated: 3.96 by BeerAndFilm from Oregon

Jul 30, 2016
Photo of chinchill
Reviewed by chinchill from South Carolina

3.42/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
On tap at the brewpub.
6.2%
Light golden body topped by a durable white head that leaves a full coat of lacing on the glass.
Moderately bitter, low for style, with some light malt base showing.
Overly earthy and piney mix of hops for my taste, despite some citrus.
Jul 08, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by BallsDeep from Florida

Jul 06, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by NickThePyro from Washington

Jun 13, 2016
 
Rated: 4.34 by grnmtnman from Oregon

May 30, 2016
 
Rated: 3.87 by McBAINx from Washington

May 19, 2016
 
Rated: 3.88 by XicanoBeerRun from Texas

May 05, 2016
 
Rated: 3.7 by kylehay2004 from Illinois

Apr 04, 2016
Blonde IPA from pFriem Family Brewers
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 104 ratings