Sunlight Citra
Carter's Brewing

 

Served on tap in a pint glass

Appearance – The beer is served a slightly hazy yellowish amber color with a two finger head of white foam. The head has a great level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave tons of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma is very strong of a sweet citrus smell with other aromas of gooseberries and a bit of a cracker. Along with these aromas comes a little bit of yeast and a hint of floral hops.

Taste- The taste begins with a crisp cracker taste mixed with a good showing of grapefruit hop. While crisp upfront, some orange and tropical fruit sweetness develops on the tongue more at the middle of the taste with these getting stronger as the taste advances. With the fruit also comes come flavors of a floral hop and a little bit of grass. Toward the end the gooseberries that were detected in the nose come to light, just lightly showing its presence. With all the flavor transitions that occur throughout the taste one is left with a citrusy but smooth flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the thinner side with a carbonation level that is rather high. For the flavors the feel is very nice making for a very easy drinking and flavorful brew overall.

Overall – This was a nice and crisp, but highly flavorful APA. I very much enjoyed this brew and hope that Carters continues producing this one in the future.

 

 

 

a nice use of citra hops here from carters, which is probably my favorite (from a beer standpoint at least) of the handful of billings breweries i have visited. they have a great scene there, with numbers of them all close together, seemingly thriving. who would have though? this pale ale is their summer brew, citra heavy, and just juicy and fresh, a perfect mix of hop character and bitterness, refreshment, and not too much grain cranking up the abv and distracting me from one of my favorite hop varietals. sunset orange, glistening, not as heady as it might be, but they poured this one into a funny glass that may have effected head retention. nose is all citra, not too too juicy or dripping, but resinous and definitely dry hopped and fresh. the taste is the same, just barely a mineral note to the grain bill, nothing sweet at all, and the hops are the entire second half of the taste experience. i could use a little more bitterness. not that it needs the balance, just that its a little too delicate to really be an american pale in my book. like a slightly watered down session hop beer. i could have great multiples of these, but there are too many cool beers on the menu here for me to ever order the same thing twice, no matter how yummy. this one is a winner.