Marylan - Double Dry-Hopped With Mosaic And Galaxy
RAR Brewing (Real Ale Revival)

When is a blonde not a blonde? Well, many wouldn't consider Marilyn to be a typical blonde and this certainly wasn't a typical American Blonde Ale either as it felt more like an American Pale Ale than anything else. In spite of it's incorrect categorization on here, this was a decent brew with enough going for it down to the Warhol-esque label and lofty rating on here that drew me in when I spotted this recently at Gary's in Madison.

A Blonde Ale, even if it's incorrectly categorized on here, should *appear* blonde and that was the case with this as it had a waxy, golden hue to it with some of the most beautiful, layered lacing that I've seen in a long time. Just a bit of dark sediment floated in the liquid although that wasn't a deterrent to how this felt or tasted. Loads of melon, stone fruit, and dank hops in the nose as the taste had enough Mosaic, Galaxy, weed, dew, swamp water, and a bit of wheat all came through in the taste as this was much more like an IPA once it warmed up - as this was a nice one, at that!

Maybe I should consider this more of a "dirty blonde" along the lines of Mae West, since this was like a New England IPA with a persistent, underlying dank hop presence to it from start to finish. Citrus pith and turbid hops stuck around for the duration as this felt a bit stronger than it's listed ABV indicated. No date was to be found anywhere on the can but that didn't matter as I'd easily reach for this again. Lots to like here in spite of this being in need of a categorical reset.

American blondes are not exactly a prevalent style, and I've never had anything from this brewery, so I figured I should jump on it. However, I feel the DDH treatment will lead this to feel more like a light IPA, but we'll have to see how it turns out

Pours a hazy pale orange with 2 fingers of soapy white head that slowly fades to a cap and leaves nice lacing

Yeah, just as expected this smells like a light bodied NEIPA, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm picking up on aromas of ripe melon, doughy malt, orange rind, lemon peel, and citrusy hops

The comparisons to a NEIPA or standard IPA carry on into taste, but the subtlety is interesting. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting piney hops, orange rind, bready malt, and honey. The swallow bitters up a bit, bringing notes of resiny earthy hops, crackery malt, and orange rind

A light medium body pairs with moderate carbonation, resulting in a super crisp and easy drinking beer. Finishes mostly dry with a solid yet clean bitterness

A damn solid beer, if not deviating from the style a bit. Oh well, I'm happy to have tried it

 

Nice hop aroma and some flavor but that's it. This comes across as more thin and watery than many session IPA's under 5% and this is at 5.9% abv. Not impressed.

Had a 14 oz pour at Snallygaster.
L - Pours an orange colored r with a white head.
S - Smells citrusy.
T - Taste of light citrus.
F - Medium body and carbonation.
O - Very easy drinking blonde ale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 16 oz can (canned 2-11-2017)

Appear: nice bright peachy orange. Solid haze going on had a nice pillowy head. Solid

Nose: smells like a DIPA with citrus and tropical fruits. Dank notes

Taste: there is a smooth nice blonde taste. The blonde ale notes of like The mosaic and galaxy hops are providing a nice bitter Hop bite.

Mouth: so I'm not sure how to rate this. Because it's a blonde. But it's DDH so not really sure what to do with it. It's kind of thin. There's good carbonation.

Over: