Canyon Line Blond Ale
Bunkhouse Brewery

they call this a table beer in house, not sure it meets the general yeast forward criteria i look for the in the table beers of the old world, but its solid, and i really cant complain. i liked both beers i had in here, and now understand why these guys have a strong reputation locally. this is dry and simple on the fermentation side, well hopped but not really bitter at all, almost like a floral green tea or something, making the beer kind of herbal and layered without adding a lot of polarizing intensity to it, the whole thing is mellow and basic, but in a not boring way, which is extremely hard to do, and something i also thought of their excellent sour rye mash lager. maybe a subtle fruity ester to the yeast, certainly a little tropical character from the hops, and a seemingly simple grain base that stays out of the way, dry and lightly crackery, but not really distinctive in any way to me. this is a crusher of a beer with its light body and high carbonation, but its just ever so subtly more unique than a lot of them. i like the hop profile for what this is, and think its got one foot in the now and one in the old world past, which is a nice place to be for a blonde ale thats not really belgian at all. tasty, affordable, solid.

Served on tap in a pint glass
Appearance – The beer is served a lightly hazed golden-yellow color with a one finger head of pure white foam. The head fades rather fast to leave a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the brew is rather strong of some lighter fruits of apricot and peach as well as some notes of tangerine and a little bit of bread. Along with these aromas comes some lighter notes of lemon, grass, and hay leaving one with a sweeter light fruit taste to linger on the tongue.
Taste – The taste begins with a bready taste with a good showing of fruit flavors of apricot, peach, and pear. There is a bit of yeastiness upfront which grows stronger in intensity as the taste advances and is joined by some other taste of hay and grass coming to the tongue. A little bit of graininess and some spice of clove and coriander come at the very end of the taste leaving one with a slightly sweeter and lightly Belgium spiced taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the average side in terms of thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is rather average. For the mix of sweeter and lightly spiced taste the feel is great and makes for one very easy sipping brew.
Overall – Just like the old version, this is one very easy drinking brew with lots of flavor. The small recipe tweak and removal of gluten, do little to the flavor profile overall. Still a great session style brew!!