Casa De Citra
Fieldwork Brewing Co.

Had this in a flight awhile back. Its a dry hopped (Citra) lager of almost session like strength. Pours a light yellow, good clarity and a sizeable white head 2/3" but it quickly vanishes from sight. The aroma is mostly citra hops providing citrus notes (shocking) and underneath that is a lager yeast that is pretty tame, or if not, substantially overshadowed by the citra hops.

Taste is the type of shit you wish you had a plethora of throughout summer. That's one of the bummers, I usually go to the bay area in November and February, not a lot of chances for elite hoppy beers for summertime to bring back in those time frames hovering in and around winter time. Anyways, super crushable, wave after wave of orange, grapefruit and papaya from this one, middle of the road bitterness, good carbonation and great experience all around. Fieldwork is pretty expensive though. But man if we don't need a solid $10/6 pack in grocery stores that is a dry hopped lager. Would be killer. I know Sierra Nevada kicks a few around seasonally, but nonetheless.

 

 

Two pints consumed at THG.

A: Pours a light, brilliantly clear yellow with a soft bright white head faded to last collar. Wispy soapy lace was left down the glass.
S: Perfumey hop nose with notes of citrus and sweet tropical fruits. The hops dominate any classic pilsner flavors to be found, but this still smells very crisp and light overall.
T: Tons of tropical fruit hops are super fresh and clean tasting. Lightly spicy, fruity, and sweet hop profile with kiss of clean and crisp bready malt. Finish has a touch of herbal peppery quality. Clean and crisp aftertaste.
M: Crisp and clean mouthfeel, drying, light body, smooth, crisp drying carbonation.
O: Hoppier than some IPAs I've had, but the crisp and light malt backbone and the clean lager yeast make this beer very light and let the hops shine. Expect an IPL than a pilsner, super delicious.

 

 

Interesting beer, but not one I need to have again. Poured from a crowler to a taster glass. Nice citrus busy on the tip of the tongue, followers by a confusing bitter lager backbone.

 

 

 

Oh what a great nose! Just wish the other attributes could keep up. Looked thin, and that's true on the mouthfeel. It's a good IPL, just wished it could live up to the nose.

 

 

This is a quality lager. It's the perfect beer right now considering it's 103 degrees outside. Perfect for mowing the lawn or just sitting by the pool.

Straight pour from a 16oz can to an oversized wineglass (Jester King stemware). No canning date on this, but it was purchased about six days ago fresh after its canning and release, at the Sacramento location. Fresh, cold, dry-hopped, lager. PSYCHED.

Appearance (2.25): This pours out two and a half fingers or so of quickly dissipating, bone-white foam capping a mostly clear, straw-golden color body. Basically, it looks like an AAL. Hmm. Not a lot of retention (read: basically none). No lacing to speak of. Honestly, it’s kind of a piss-yellow. It looks like an AAL, when all is said and done.

Smell (4.25): Oodles and oodles of Citra pour out of the can and glass immediately, bearing mango sweetness with papaya musk on the sides and the punchy, bright twang of apricot, passionfruit, and kumquat. A bit of dank funk comes out, too, mixing with the punchier aromas to make for a nice, bright bouquet. Finally, a slight amount of common cracker and floury country white bread crust fill in a little base, but this nose is really all Citra.

Taste (4.25): Here, it’s much more clearly a lager in character. The Citra is still quite clear, edging more toward pink grapefruit with a good amount of pith left on the flesh, underripe kumquat, and undersweetened limeade, too. As for the malt and yeast, the lager character expresses itself in the form of a nice set of mineral tones that emphasize the dry, crackery character of the yeast. On top of that, the mineral tones in there kind of make the bitterness of the hops stand out a little further, encouraging the Citra’s expression to lean pithy and bitter rather than juicy and sticky. This is very, very good stuff.

Mouthfeel (4.5): Crisp, swishy, dry, pithy, crushable. The body is fairly light but with good depth, buoyed by assertive but not coarse or crackly carbonation that spreads all over, foams up easily, and washes out cleanly. The hops dry it out nicely, but not TOO much, while the malt and yeast push the lightness of floury and mineral-oriented, belying the actual depth of the body. In short, it drinks as cleanly and satisfyingly as a lager like this should, eschewing the downfalls of overly dry-hopped, lighter ABV beers.

Overall (4.25): I really dig this beer! It’s bright, easy to drink, and flavorful, making good use of the lager fermentation without succumbing to the heavyhandedness of many hop-forward, lower ABV beers. The only real downfall is the appearance, which to be honest, almost never sways me too far in any one direction. But, it’s no looker. It looks like a crappy, generic, American lager. That said, it smells great, it tastes great, and feels excellent. The price is fairly steep for what it is, but it’s a very good beer. Recommended, for sure.