Citra Saison Smash
Cloud 9 Brewery

Draft at Cloud 9. Bright, clear golden, thin foamy, white head. Citrusy, orange aroma. Taste adds the saison yeast to the Citra flavors making for an interesting, and refreshing, brew. The combination almost passes for cucumber (?). It is super refreshing in this 100° heat.

a cool beer thats all pilsener malt and citra hops, fermented with a clean saison yeast strain that seems more french than belgian to me, with the white wine esters that yeast often produces, which i have always thought were quite compatible with citra hops. the whole thing is pretty light, the malt doesnt bring a ton of flavor, and the hops seem sort of cautiously used, so the yeast really does drive the flavor of this one, which i am fine with, its clean, not done too warm, and there are subtle black pepper and lemongrass notes that work super well with the hops. i like pils malt in this context, but i definitely do miss some wheat as well, the feeling is a little light for what i like in a saison and there really isnt any of that rustic earthy grain character to balance out the high tone yeast. i like how light the beer is though, very summery, dry, and with nice carbonation. the hops are fresh here too, and its a nice soft and mellow side of citra, even though i do think the beer could stand a little more hop bitterness to close. not generally the kind of saison that turns me on, but they did a good job with this. these guys are far better than the buzz they generate, i have liked pretty much all the beer and food i have had here so far!