Blonde Express
Elk Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a disgrace for this beer company to call this beer a blonde express coffee blonde beer. Sure they did well with the look of being a coffee beer that is light yet not blonde. Very foggy looking with tints of orange resembling the orange yoak like center filling of a Cadbury egg.
Nevertheless the beer has no coffee smell nor coffee flavor. Just a basic beer that falsely sells as a coffee beer. The beer tastes like a pilsner with mild hints of cream coffee but so very faint. This was poorly made and due to this and Dankalicious I will not be seeking this brewery ever again

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours slightly hazy golden amber color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of nutty medium roast coffee, wheat, cracker, and biscuit; with lighter notes of honey, vanilla, cocoa, herbal, pepper, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of coffee, bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of nutty medium roast coffee, wheat, cracker, and biscuit; with lighter notes of honey, vanilla, cocoa, herbal, pepper, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/grassy/spicy hop and light roasted coffee bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of nutty coffee, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, pepper, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice robustness and balance coffee, bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance. Slight lingering hop astringency through the glass, but not overwhelming. Moderate dryness from bitterness and carbonation, increasing through the glass. Medium-plus carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, bready/grainy/sticky, and slightly chalky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is a very nice coffee blonde ale. All around nice robustness and balance coffee, bready malt, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, and quite refreshing to drink; even with the increasingly bitter/drying finish. Would have preferred the hop character and bitterness to be toned down; but it was still very flavorful, balanced, and enjoyable for the style.

I picked up a bottle of Elk Brewing's Blonde Express a couple days ago for $1.79 at The Lager Mill. I just tried their IPA and I thought the coffee blonde would be a nice one to move onto next, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks nice, it has a nice design to it and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a hazy golden orange color that took on just a little more of a golden color when held to the light and it had a little over a fingers worth of slightly creamy off white head that died down to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left a little bit of patchy lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the coffee being the first to show up and it imparts a black coffee aroma that dominates the aroma of this beer and it's followed by some noticeable nutty aromas. Up next comes a little doughy yeast and a slight vegetal aroma that goes in the malts which are on the lighter side and they impart a sweet malt, pale malt and grainy aroma. This beer has a nice aroma, but the vegetal aromas and the lack of balance hold it back.

T- The taste seems to be fairly similar the aroma and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the coffee still being the first to show up, but it's lighter and not as roasty and it goes right into this really weird plastic like flavor with a little bit of vegetal aspect coming through too. Up next comes a little bit of doughy yeast and that leads into the malts which are just as light as they were in the aroma and they impart all the same aspects. This isn't a good tasting beer, that plastic and vegetal flavor really holds this beer.

M- Not the smoothest, a little crisp, medium bodied with a lower amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is ok, but it needs to be smoother.

Overall I thought this beer wasn't good and it's not a good example of the style, in the aroma I thought it was going the right direction, but when I got to the taste all the off flavors came full force and it really hurt this beer. This beer doesn't have good drinkability, a half a glass is way more than enough for me and I might have to drain pour it. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance and aroma, those were the highlights of this beer. What I like the least about this beer is the taste, it just isn't good and I didn't enjoy it. I wouldn't buy this beer again and I would recommend someone not to try it. All In all I didn't like this beer at all and I don't understand how the brewer could have tasted it as it is and think it's good enough to go out to the public, because it clearly isn't. It's my least favorite beer from this brewery and it's not a good example of the style. Better luck next time guys, this one needs some major work.

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewery. Look was a bit darker than expected from a blonde. Smell is all fresh ground coffee. Taste is more coffee and a surprising amount of hop bitterness. Feel is rather thick for such a light style. Overall a great beer. I've had a few of these bright coffee flavored light styles lately and I really like them.