Centennial Blonde
Rooster Brewing

As the temperature is heating up, the taste at Rooster Brew is cooling down. With the rising temperatures of spring come a blonde ale that's laced with the crisp, clean and clear taste of grapefruit, orange and pine that only Centennial hops can provide.

This single-source hopped ale kicks off honey-gold, amber in the right light but casts about an array of fruit aromatics that hinge on citrus, pine, herb and grass. Its taste is supple with caramel and a pep of granola with a toasted sweetness and crusted character that those malts provide.

Hop-forward on the middle palate, the malts trail gracefully and slowly while the hops come beckoning. Pink grapefruit, bitter orange peel, and a hint of spruce rise, all ahead of a bittering of pine and grass that overshaddows the residual malt flavors but only slightly. Like a fine gin-and-tonic, this beer form should find favor on the tastebuds this summer.

Its medium-light body is supple in its sweetness late but trends pale ale-like with those Centennial hops firmly in control. Late esters of apple, lemon and herbal lemongrass play on the aftertaste with a refreshing taste that will have us asking for more.