Citraveza
Alvarado Street Brewery

 

Picked this up at a Whole Foods in San Francisco as I never had this before and only had one offering from Alvarado Street during all my years of imbibing. Saw that this had a lofty rating on here, and indeed, this was one of the best IPL's that I ever had as it was clean, crisp, and more than flavorful. Mexican Lagers don't get much better than this and if they do, I'd be hard-pressed to find one!

Indeed, the label on the can that I picked up looked nothing like this although it was as California as anything that I've ever had out of a can. Grassy, hoppy, and full of tortilla in the nose, this had all the first impressions of a faded sunny and hazy day in the valley. Tropical fruit, exotic hops, and Pilsner Malt combined for a unique aroma that easily carried over into the taste. Plenty full, plenty light, and plenty flavorful, I enjoyed this and how unique it was as this beer easily showed how it could straddle the line between ale and lager while being new and different at the same time.

Canned on 8/11 with "CALIFORNIA DREAMIN" written below that, this was a beer that would easily have me driving out to the left coast with The Beach Boys blasting on the radio. Mexican in heart but American in actuality, this had so much going for it down to the sublime tropical hops, full-bodied chewiness, and grassy dankness that kept me coming back for more. The Golden State deserves a golden beer such as this and if you can find this nugget, it will be well worth the effort to obtain!

 

 

Too hoppy for me. Others will likely approve.

 

 

 

 

From a 16oz. can purchased at the beer store.

It's hard to account for all the parameters. Weather is awesome, accomplished a ton today, and now here I am enjoying some vintage vinyl in a hammock. It might be the circumstances, but it's probably just that this beer is really good.

The nose isn't overwhelming, but it's a lager with a hop overtone. First sip explodes in Hawaiian Punch. Wow! I really wasn't expecting that. This is one of the most flavorful lagers I've ever had. The mouthfeel and carbonation are still light and refreshing, but there's some intense fruit up front. Not overwhelming though, like some sours or fruited ales can be. Aftertaste is just dankly bitter enough. Impressive balance. This isn't the usual "hoppy lager". I'll be putting this in regular rotation.

 

Can from Lupulo Santa Cruz.
About 2 weeks old.
L: clear golden lager, nice bubbles, foamy head.
S: tropical fruity with dank grassy presence.
T: Mostly sweet tropical fruit, a bit of grassy resinous bitter. Little dank Nelson-like taste.
F: medium slick and dry. Appropriate.
Overall: enjoyable. I like the hoppy lagers, and this one captures Alvarados hop flavors without some of their sweet thickness that are in their ipa’s at times.

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: American Pale Lager
Glass: Clear shaker pint glass
Price: $5.00
From: Lama Dog Tap Room & Bottle Shop in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Purchased: June 19, 2020
Consumed: June 19, 2020
Misc.: Canned on June 10, 2020

Went back to Lama Dog for some more Alvarado Street and Humble Sea. Was interested in this hoppy lager, which was described on Alvarado Street’s website as, “This is a hoppy Mexican lager, inspired by a San Diego garage homebrew recipe from 2011. Bitterness is light and crisp, but hop aroma & flavor are front and center. We overuse the word “tropical”, but there’s really no better way to describe Citraveza, as the interaction between the lager yeast and these hops make for a truly unique beer.” Would be Citra hops with Augustiner Lager yeast and German Pilsner malt.

Poured a pale yellow clear color with 1-to-2 fingers of off-white frothy-to-fizzy head. Lots of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass at the same speed, kind of looking like a snow globe. Decent watery lacing. Decent retention. (Sight - 3.75)

Smelled dank pine, resin, Citra, grapefruit, tropical zest and black peppery spice. Much the same from the can, maybe with the addition of musty baseman. Really had me wanting to try it. (Smell - 4.50)

The taste wasn’t nearly as good, but still outstanding. In order got Citra, dank pine, resin, grapefruit, tropical zest, black peppery spice and hints of slightly earthy pilsner malt. (Taste - 4.00)

Light body. Thin-to-oily texture. Lively carbonation. Clean, crisp finish. (Feel - 4.50)

Was back and forth on a few categories here, but this was outstanding overall. (Overall - 4.00)

4.16 | 93 | A-

Canned on 6/10/20

Pours a mostly clear straw-lemon hue topped with 2 fingers of light, off-white foam; decent head retention leaves a frothy ¼ finger of cap, moderate, foamy collar, and a uniform smattering of webby lacing around the glass.

Aroma opens with lemongrass and a surprisingly rounded white grape dankness into musty mango and sweet parsley on the middle, and hints of corn and flaky cereal grains on the close.

Taste features a lime zest brightness alongside mango flesh as light bready spice, dank parsley, and wet grass all develop an herbal depth over the mid-palate; a subtle metallic tinge is apparent in the background as sweet corn and cereal grain touch the finish.

Mouthfeel brings a semi-wet light body accompanied by a spritzy carbonation a shade above moderate, resulting in consistent and easygoing texture along the first half of the palate; an even grit, sporadically and mildly bitter, soon spreads across the mid-palate to the finish, where a mild snap strikes the swallow.

The unique and varied tones imparted from the hopping adds an anoke nuance to an already clean adjunct lager base; endlessly crushable, intriguing, and very well done.

 

 

Picked up a 4 pack of this when I was touring California on my way down to the Rose Bowl for the Rolling Stones show on August 22, 2019. Acquired the day before. Anyways, cool label, plus a professional appearance, could have sworn this was Budweiser it looked so clean. The aroma, well, it blows Budweiser away, so much Citra hop to it, the lager yeast is clean, not one of those skunky Euro lagers (which I like too). Just a lot of island vibes out of this one.

Taste, oh yeah, light bodied, heavily hopped, but the bitterness is in check, but this doesn't resort to pancake batter like haziness and flaked malt adjuncts. Its clean and crisp, its like a west coast ipl but without a bittering hop, its all late stage Citra. 2 beers into the 4 pack, I'm already wishing I had bought 8! You can crush this on the river, around the pool, at the bbq, tailgate wherever. Unlikely to have nerds taking notes on their Chicago pours or lecturing you about free trade living wage BS when you're pounding these 16oz at a time. Rusev Crush!

Whoa...dare I say sweet tropical hoppy nose on a lager?! Well, yes I can! Taste follows with a crisp and light, hint of lime, hoppiness! This drinks and feels like a lager in every way, but has hoppy, sessionable, west coast ipa characteristics. I never though an India Pale Lager (IPL) made sense, but now I do! This would be perfect on a hot day for IPA fanboys...you could crush two of them at 4.9% and still function for the rest of the day. Haha! Good Stuff!