Swollen Ego
Koto Brewing Company

 

 

Absolutely delicious. full flavored blonde that can't be beat.

I am trying this beer off the tapper at the brewery in Twin Falls, Idaho location as part of a five sample flight. It poured a clear golden with white head which left a spotty lace. The beer was nicely balanced and easy to drink. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a great beer.

16 oz can from Sledutah. Pale golden pour, head fades slowly. Light aroma, sweet, notes of honey. Taste is faint, sweet, grainy with a lots hop bite at the finish..

i think the least impressive of the three beers i have had from these guys now, certainly the least flavorful. its a basic blonde ale, but its not even really that, a deeper color than i would really call blonde, more orange tinted, and definitely a little sweeter and fuller than i expect from a style i usually just want to pound on. its also missing an opportunity to be refreshing by having such light carbonation, i want a beer like this to pop and sing, and this falls a little flat there. the taste is a little sweet, with some honey character and a light baked thing, not too much, but its definitely a little more sturdy than it needs to be. its a little bit one dimensional as well, no as dynamic as their hoppy stuff was, and even a little boring, easily overwhelmed by their spicy jerk chicken sandwich here (which was delicious by the way!). i think if they dropped out a little of the heavier malt and carbonated this a bit better it would improve it as a blonde, i like these to be dry too. overall just okay, but i suspect it will get better in future batches, remember, these guys are still really new. looking forward to seeing how they evolve here, i have high hopes based on my first visit. awesome people here too!

edit: i am pleased to be calling this out and updating scores here to reflect improvement over time. this is way cleaner and better than it used to be now, hoppier, brighter, sturdy citrus notes of mandarin and grapefruit make it more flavorful than most blondes, and while its still not quite clear and as refined as it could be, the carbonation is better and there is a more uplifting vibe. nice to see them getting better from batch to batch here! i was impressed with the improvement on this one!