Citra Lemon Saison
3 Stars Brewing Company

This DelMarVa (+ DC) adventure of mine has morphed into my latest CANQuest (tm) focus! I really had no idea that MaryCANd, especially, was putting out so much beer. 8=O It seems as though every time I feel like I a close, some more beers from that area Pop! up from out of hiding to surprise me. Further, I am back to work so I CANnot keep up the pace that I set during the Christmas/Winter Break. 8=( On top of all of that, even New Beer Sunday is off-limits due to prior CANmitments. 8=(

From the CAN: "Ale brewed with Lemon Peel".

This one surfaced from the depths of my cool or cold (depending on time of year) cellar, having been purchased at the brewery during a visit to my aunt & uncle's in DC at one point. I was CANcerned that flocculation may have taken place during this time, so I did some in-CAN agitation, prior to Crack!ing open the vent, to ensure that everything was back in suspension. I went with a heavy-handed aggro Glug for the same reason, watching in rapt fascination as it formed two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, French Vanilla-colored head with excellent retention. 8=O The other big surprise was its color & clarity: Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity! 8=O I did everything but put it in a paint mixer & it still called forth The Gelt Gang of Midas, Croesus & Mammon from my living room sofa where they were gearing up for a televised (mostly college) hockey marathon to come into the kitchen for a taste. 8=O Nose held the "rustic" (thanks, @ThisWangsChung ) funkiness that is a hallmark of the style. Mouthfeel was medium, solid for the style. My inadvertent aging had really brought forth the lemony tartness in this one! It had a dry, musty yeastiness along with a slight funk and a pronounced lemoniness. Yum. This would be the sort of thing to go really well with a Chinese dinner! Our local, Tony Wang's, is closing & being forced to move so I CAN see taking some for a meal before his hiatus. I am envisioning Lemon Chicken with this beer. Yum. Finish was really quite dry, again perhaps due to my aging. My numbers may be high since some (many) said that they did not get the lemon adjunct when it was fresh. I, OTOH, was getting almost nothing BUT lemon, FWIW. YMMV.

 

Fine. It's fine. Had it straight from the pint can while waiting for my gyro Meggroll to get done. It's exactly as you would expect: a saison with a bit of Citra hopping. It's refreshing and drinks easy, but doesn't necessarily stand out. It's fine.

16oz can poured into a tulip.
L: Really beautiful. Cloudy, dark yellow, orange. Nice foamy head, one half inch.
S: Apricot, malty, sweet. Belgium yeast. Lemon, good lemon.
T: Really good. Nicely balanced. Sweet malt, banana peel, but not overly so. Nice Apricot. Really good beer. Lemony. A lot of lemon without being overly so.
F: Soft, light, but crisp.
O: The Brothers Alstrom were right. This is a good beer.