Who Loves The Sun
Notch Brewing

 

 

 

Murky yellow body, white head with tons of lacing. Smells of blonde yeast with big grapefruit, lime, papaya, passionfruit and gentle hop bitters. Taste is more bitter with the yeast combining in the spotlight, lemon, grapefruit, lime, and lime pith. Meh too hoppy for the style. Feel is bright and light with bittering second half, way too hop focused, like a new england blonde ale

 

Crowler filled 8/3/22

American Blonde Ale is such a simple and traditional style. Leave it to Notch to mix things up by (once again) cold fermenting it with a Kölsch yeast. The NEIPA they did the same thing to was stellar, so I have similarly high hopes for this one. Let's crack it open and see what it's all about

Pours a cloudy yellow gold with 3 fingers of rocky white head that slowly fades to cap and leaves decent lacing

The nose here is definitely traditional, but the fruity notes from the yeast add a nice layer to it. I'm picking up on aromas of crackery malt, floral hops, honey, biscuit, freeze-dried strawberry, and light orange zest

In taste it loses a bit of the edge the aroma presents, but it's still pretty damn good. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting bready malt, lemon zest, floral hops, juicy kiwi, honey, lime zest, and light toasted grain. The swallow brings notes of orange zest, peppery hops, crackery malt, pithy grapefruit, juicy strawberry, and light cantaloupe

A light body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a crisp and refreshing beer. Finishes mostly dry and fruity but clean

Surprising absolutely nobody, we have another win from Notch. Even when they're not making traditional Czech/German styles, they still kill it

 

 

 

 

Can courtesy of yllib.
L: clear blond with avg. white head.
S: bready. Floral. Berry. Slight sweetness.
T: Strawberries, French bready. Not quite as clean as a lager. Little estery. Refreshing light herbal/grassy hop presence.
F: Thin-medium. Crisp. No alcohol presence.
O: light and refreshing session ale. Great for style. Made for summer and early fall weather.

Best by Nov 30, 2020
Pours a huge frothy bubbly head with med retention, getting a little rocky, messy sticky lacing, semi hazy blond straw color

Nose smells like a brewery, fresh wort and blond malts, sweet blond malt and golden malt aromas, light floral fruity hops, hint of grapefruit I think, and some citrus

Taste more sweet blond malts, golden malt characters and again fresh wort but not a lot, light floral fruity hops again, some citrus notes, a little tropical as well, soft in general with prob water softening minerals, lighter bitterness, drier finish

Mouth is med to lighter bod, soft almost lagered feel and softening minerals, med-higher foamy soft carb

Overall quite a nice easy drinking tasty blonde.

Poured from a 32 oz crowler into a Stein glass.

Pours a lightly hazy golden straw color with an entire fist of frothy eggshell white head. The head leaves some splotchy lacing as it slowly dissipates into a thick mound of foam.

The aroma brings notes of tangerines and fresh kiwis, followed by a wave of melon and cracked pepper. There's an extremely subtle hint of mixed berries on the back end.

The flavor brings a lot of honeydew melon, kiwi, tangerines, and lemon zest, followed by some cereal grains, blueberries and strawberries, peppery spice and doughy malt.

The feel is light bodied with good carbonation. Crisp, yet smooth and highly drinkable. Has a modestly dry and clean finish.

Overall, this is a great blonde ale that's moderately hoppy, solidly fruity, and wonderfully balanced. Such an easy drinking beer.