Strawberry Blonde Ale
Buffalo Bill's Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picked this up a few weeks back at Total Wine in West Orange, having never had this before and not drinking anything from Buffalo Bill's in quite a long time. I wanted something light for the season but not the same as the "lawnmower beers" that are still on the shelf for the time being. In it's own way, this was another example of that aforementioned style but there just a bit of distinction to this to make it stand out, even though there wasn't anything particularly memorable about this beer.

The pour to this was this brew's best aspect, by far. A nice golden waxy hue, frothy head, solid lacing, and sufficient carbonation combined for a pleasing appearance. Then I took a whiff. Syrup. Ginger. A hint of wheat. None of them seemed to really mesh with each other and that was the case when it came to the taste as well. The strawberry felt artificial and the ginger only came through in the aftertaste, once the slickness of this went down my throat. The wheat felt grassy in tone and wasn't strong enough to help the mouthfeel of this beer out. That felt weak and somewhat watered-down, but not as much as would be found in a Macro Lager. Lots of suds here but in this case, they detracted from the taste and lack of flavors to scrub away.

Thankfully, the alcohol was light in this and I couldn't even taste it during my session. I'm not a huge fan of Blonde Ales - especially those that verge on the border of a Fruit of Vegetable beer. This is a change from other summer seasonal beers that are currently still out but only in the sense that none have ginger in them or feel as contrived as this. Worth a go once just for a change but this is one beer that I probably wouldn't get again.

 

 

 

 

 

I had a chance to review their Blueberry Stout the other morning, so now I am (kind of) following it up with this one. It is interesting that it is a "Strawberry Blonde with Ginger" since strawberry blondes are a subset of redheads who are often referred to as "gingers". I am a big fan of redheads, being one myself and I look forward to this beer.

From the bottle: "a Refreshing Summer Brew".

I went with an aggro pour as I like to watch the pseudo-cascade take place, plus I do not mind massive amounts of head or the esters that it releases in its creation. It settled into two fingers of rocky, foaming, off-white head with decent retention. The nose was very sweet, initially, like strawberry candy, but when I leaned in, I got a solid whiff of ginger. Color was a solid golden-yellow (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity and as my old nemeses, Croesus, Midas and Mammon appeared, I snatched it away to convey that this one was mine, all mine! Great lacing had begun to form as the head fell and I lifted the glass for my first sip. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium and the taste was extremely pleasant! The strawberry flavor was nowhere near as sweet as I had expected from the nose and the ginger was understated enough that I could taste it, but without overwhelming the strawberry. Finish was semi-sweet and about as perfect a Summer beer as I can imagine.