Farmington River Blonde Ale
Ipswich Ale Brewery

Thanks goes out to Bounty628 for this one.

Pours a nice cloudy golden yellow color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy white head, which leaves some sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, sweet, with some caramel. The taste is malty, sweet, some spice. Medium body. Drinkable, this is a different blonde ale, not much spice in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a three finger cream head that faded slowly to a thin layer leaving a good lace. Cloudy amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Slight hoppy nose. Flavor is hops all the way, malts are hidden; leaves a bitter aftertaste. $1.50 for a 12oz bottle from Manchester Wine and Liquors Manchester, CT. Contract brewed by Mercury Brewing.

From the top of the freshly opened bottle: musty, malty aroma.

After the pour, it has a musty, bread-yeast aroma.

This blonde ale pours a foggy, white-gold, into a goblet; little to no head. A thin film of foam at the surface.

It has a lively, effervescent mouthfeel.

This is a dry, crisp tasting ale. The amount of carbonation obviously has a lot to do with that. I would say that breads, yeast and grains dominate the palate. The finish is a bitter/sweet combination of malts and hops.

The Farmington Blonde Ale is a very drinkable, unassuming brew. Perfect for a hot summer afternoon when you are looking for a thirst quencher that won't smoother you in sweetness, but doesn't let your hop-side down either.

Thanks to Bounty628 for this one. I poured this from a 12oz brown bottle into a shaker pint glass.

A= This ale poured a cloudy deep gold color with a 3/4" sudsy white head. The head slowly dropped to a thin cap and left some decent lace behind on the glass.

S= I detected honey, bready malts, citrus, and faint hops on the nose.

T= The flavor profile followed the aroma with a honey-like sweetness in the malt base and some fruity citrus esters following close behind. The hops were floral and slightly earthy, leading into a finish that dried considerably. I could not put my finger on it, but there was a strange quality to the finish that was different in an odd sort of way. Nothing off-putting, just odd.

MF= Medium bodied and relatively crisp on the tongue.

D= An ok session beer, didn't seem too strong and the flavor profile was fairly mild. Not my favorite style but this one is worthy of exploration for sure.

Poured golden yellow with a slight foam.

Smelled of light citrus, but otherwise not much else.

Clean crisp opening taste, the cirtus is evident, followed by a slight hop finish. The hops become more present in the taste as you progress through the beer.

Good mouthfeel, can bring out the hop taste by holding in the mouth. They never rise beyond what you'd expect from a blonde ale.

Overall very drinkable, I could knock back a bunch of these.

Bought the sample pack for the Farmington River brand. Appearance was a golden color with a thin, frothy head and no real lacing. Metallic aromas wrapped around a wheaty, berry flavor. Good grassy taste mixed with bready/yeasty flavors. A good crispness really makes this enjoyable. Overall, an excellent drink.

Reviewed on 7/26/08. Bottle shared by fredandboboflo. Pours a clear orange with a thick white head. Aroma of light fruits, melon, and lemon/citrus. Flavor of light lemony sweetness, spices, with a bitter finish. Blandish but very drinkable and a good session. The best Farmington River beer. I liked this one!
7/4/7/3/14 (3.5/5)

The beer pours a nice gold color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a grainy pale malt scent along with a dry and slightly hoppy aroma. The taste is decent as well. It has a solid pale malt flavor that goes down easy and finishes and finishes dry and bitter. This is a thicker blonde ale than what I'm used too. The mouthfeel suffers because of it. It's a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. I love the taste of this beer, but it seems a bit too heavy for a blonde. It has excellent hop content. This is a good drinking beer, but not the easy summer brew you might be looking for.

Have been able to give this beer a try as it was included (3) in a mixed 12 pack from Farmington (Mercury) Brewing. This brew poured to a cloudy yellow color that had a tint of Orange to it. Had a nice sized white head that was able to stick around to give a good deal of lacing at the top of the glass. The aroma of this brew were dominated by a citrus like hop smell but I was able to pick out up the malt scent as well, not as easily found as the hops which I seemed to notice even before the brew got close to my nose. The taste works, nothing supper exciting but not a bad brew. Notice the hops more than the caramel like malts but they are somewhat in balance, the hop taste seems to linger on the palate along with a somewhat dry finish. Over all I would not say that this is a supper exciting brew but a solid offering, a brew that I could concentrate on for an evening while hanging out with friends, easy drinking.

Farmington River Blonde Ale pours a gold color of medium depth. The head is moderate in size and sadly rather brief in duration. The smell is the best thing about this beverage, being a very pleasant (at least to my olfactory apparatus) mixture of yeasty and malty aromas. The taste borders on bland, with a very unfortunate metalic aftertaste. I really take no pleasure in saying this but this beer is not one that I can recommend, unless there are no alternatives.

Appearance: Hazy straw yellow with a foamy white head on top. The foam dissolves quickly to a thin ring around the surface leaving behind a few spots of lace.

Aroma: Citrus lemon notes with some toasted malt mixed in.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Thin bodied with a mild carbonated fizz on the tip of the tongue. The flavor is a nice balance of toasted malt and citrusy lemon hops. Hints of corn mixed in round out the flavor. It finishes dry with a mild floral hop flavor lingering on the palate.

Drinkability: This is a very drinkable well balanced beer. A nice brew when your looking for something light or to complement a meal.

12 oz brown bottle; no best before date.

Slightly cloudy, rusted gold in color. Half inch layer of white foam that falls to a whispy sheet. Light, webbed lacing.

Bright lemony, citric hop aromas. A light floral bouquet balanced with a slightly sweet candied sugar.

Semi-sweet, lightly toasted malts, met by a chlorine-tinged Cascade hop presence. The flavor combination is close to a lemon cleaning solvent: bleachy and wax-like. Biscuit-like floral hops prior to a burnt bitterness. Wet cardboard and lemon fill the aftertaste.

Light in body; crisp and light, but waxy on the palate by mid-sip.

Definitely a summer ale with some flaws. The lack of balance gives this Blonde an artificial taste. Even in a pinch, I'd probably pass on this one.

12oz bottle from variety pack poured into a weizen. Limited, white lacing atop a cloudy golden body.

To the nose, fresh lemon and lime with a slight floralness in the back. Not much sweetness here.

In the mouth, bold and crispy lemons again with an underlying organic hop character. The bitter quality melds well with the citrus base.

The feel is light but substantial enough to matter. Nice bubbly character creates a highly drinkable brew. It finishes dry and earthy.

Musings: Much better than the IPA from the same pack. Not a monster, but easily could be considered a fine summer go to.

This beer was a nice light straw color on pour with a large thick frothy head. The head retained very nicely. Plenty of carbonation throught the glass. Overall a very nice appearance.

First aroma was a hops scent laced with malt and a slightly citrus scent. The closest the cirtus can be compared to is a tangerine. So far, appearance and aroma, so good.

Taste was a fantasic blend of hops and malt with the citric taste on peeking through at the end of a mouthful. The best blonde ale I have had to date. I wish I could drink this all day.

Had plenty of body in the mouth, and a pleasent amount of carbonation.

This is a fantastic offering from a fine brewery. I can't recommend this enough. If you are looking for a fantastic blonde ale, this should be you lead candidate. Perfect for a summer day after a round of golf.