Sunburn Summer Brew
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #41 (Jun 2010):

Here we go, a new hop. Dry-hopped with Citra. Crystal-clear, pale golden brew, lacing does a killer job of sticking to the glass. Super citric nose--at first, we thought catty but then more overripe oranges. Snappy carbonation. Orangey flavor from start to finish; thin maltiness seems a bit wet. Hop bitterness cleans and somewhat takes over. Dry, grainy finish with the Citra hop laying down a fading citric flavor. Cheers to making an interesting summer ale.

Nice amber-tinted golden beer with a very pleasant, mouth-filling body.

I probably wouldn't have bought this if I knew it was "officially" an American Blonde-- but this is definitely my favorite summer type beer. The body is surprisingly decent, it is very beery and thirst-quenching, but it has quite a good full flavor. Malt is just enough to give it some substance, and the hops are in balance. Nice kick of bitterness with some resiny hints.

It does taste like a Kolsch to me, and as a bonus is a little on the buxom side. This gets my vote for Best Blonde.

Poured from the bottle into a Surly pint glass, nice deep amber color, good head that never fully dissapated, decent lacing, very solid taste, very citrusy.

Great summer brew, would go great on a warm afternoon sitting fishing or anything similar. Happy I bought it, and I think fresh it would have been a bit too hoppy for me, so getting it at the end of the season was good.

12 oz bottle with a date stamp of JUN1610, not sure if that is best by or born on. Pours a relatively clear, vibrant gold color with an ample cap of airy white foam. Retention is very good and leaves some lace behind. A good looking blonde ale, for sure.

Citra hops are present in the nose but not quite as much as I was hoping for. Grainy and slightly biscuity malts make up the remainder of the nose. Nice, clean aroma overall.

Taste is way nicer than I was expecting, crisp and dry with a nice bitterness and citra hop flavor. Is there wheat in here? Seems like it shares some characteristics with an American wheat. Nothing fancy, but it is very refreshing and satisfying for the summer. Wish I would have found this one earlier in the year, probably would have been a multi-sixer purchase for me.

Strong initial aroma of citra hops whith very pronounced grapefruit, faint crystal hops and little bit of a bready malt aroma.

Excellent clarity, initial large tan white head that persists as a thin layer and leaves some lacing.

Dominant taste is grapefruit from the citra hops with a very faint light crystal malt background, med-low level of smooth bitterness, not much in the aftertaste except lingering hop flavor and a little bitterness

medium level of carbonation and a medium to light body

Very nice looking medium golden hay color with a dense small capping od white foam. Snowflake paper patterned lacing is speckled well across the glass.

Aroma is quite nice with a welcome musty Citra bounce of tangy hay and pine hinted lemon and white grapefruit.

Taste however is a bit underwhelming with a quick one sided tone of hoppyness thats moslty of a dulled citrus with hints to pine and musty hay. Quite short, crisp, yes, that it is, but no real balance with a malt underneath playing itself into a one dimensional hop tone that doesn;t offer a whole lot of complexity.

Lighter medium body with a watery mid level area with a glide into a small pale malt undertone in the finish coming thru. A very small bite to some hoppy bitterness is there in an English styled kind of twist that helps it along somewhat.

An easy going brew that is nothing less then something fairly simple yet clean and crafted well enough for some decent summer drinking. Style points aside as I'm thinking it's not really suppose to be a Blonde ale?

A: Deep, clear gold color. Poured a 2 finger white head that dissipated to a wispy skim. Decanted lazily. Laced in thin rings.

S: Citrus and orange zest hit first. Cereal grains.

T: Pale malt; slightly sweet cereal character up front. Orange rind and ditrus, maybe a little grapefruit, dominate the middle. Long, dry bitter finish to balance.

M: Light body. Moderate carbonation. Smooth start fisishes dry and clean.

D: Easily drinkable. Smooth, flavorful and balanced for a light, dry beer.

A- Golden blonde, with a one finger head. Retention and lacing is present, but only slightly.
S- Smell is citrusy, a bit grainy, some pineapple.
T- Taste is initially initially sweet and lightly malted, and follows with some citrus fruit flavor, orange, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple. Quite tasty.
M- Crisp, perhaps overcarbed slightly. Finishes dry. Overall it has more weight to it than i expected.
D- Overall this isn't a bad beer. In fact, it's all around quite good. This is definitely a good summer beer, and a very sessionable one at that.

Im not going to do this review as a normal a/s/t....etc but Ill explain it this way

It is a summer beer, so there isnt a whole lot going on with in if your like the normal craft drinker and is used to a lot more complex beers. Im so used to a 90+ ibu beer that this doesnt feel much more than water to me.

Yes i understand its about the style, but my palate is changed from much larger beers. Dont get me wrong, I sucked this thing down instantly drinkability is amazing, but I wont buy again, for the money I want a whole lot more

Pours a (shockingly) light yellow-ish blonde. I don't know why, but I was expecting an IPA appearance.

Smells faintly of citrus and sharply of toasty malt and grass/hay. Okay, not what I expected, again, but seems pleasant.

Taste has a zesty, almost sharp toastiness and grain-y grassiness to it, along with a splash of juicy oranges/sweet grapefruit that I guess must be the CITRA. I admit I bought this because of the big "CITRA!!!" label on the box, and while it has some noticeable hops to it, don't go into it expecting a showcase.

Well ... once I got over my initial disappointment, it's a very quaffable "sessionable" beer that goes down nice by the poolside. At only 7.50 a sixer, it may work itself into my rotation as a staple "beer that won't get people wasted at my house, and which I can serve to non-craft beer drinkers without them rejecting it or my feeling embarassed" rotation.

Picked up on a whim, and I'll probably try it again real soon. Pours a nice medium bronze color, with a scant amount of rapidly diminishing head. As soon as my nose approached the glass, I was overwhelmed by a blast of fresh citrus (mostly orange, a little tangerine, pineapple) hoppiness. On the palate, this one was a little thin, but still nicely hopped with a bready finish. This one was extremely drinkable, and went down quickly.

Had this on tap at Whistle Binkies. Pours a clear golden color with a large white head with some good retention and lacing. Not a bad looking blonde! Interesting aroma here! This is most pineapple-y smelling beer I've come across next to Hopslam. I was pleasantly surprised at the citrus, fruity hop aromas in this beer, and glad there wasn't too much pine or grapefruit. Taste is right on. Pineapple hops dominate, followed by a nice sweetness from the pale malts, but drys out on the finish. It's an overall light beer, but still has some interesting flavor and complexity going on. Again, like the nose, it's almost like a watered down Hopslam, without the pine or intense sweetness and booze. Crisp, refreshing, medium light body. This beer was a big surprise. At 4.3%, I could drink my fill in a sitting. I was expecting little, if any flavor, but I guess I associate Widmer with Redhook too much, and Widmer is clearly the better brewery that really does know how to make decent drinkable beers, this being one of them.

Thanks to travita for sharing this bottle.

The beer pours a hazy yellow color with a white head. The aroma is wheat with some citrus notes. The flavor is orange citrus with some wheat and bready malt. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Not a bad beer and better than a lot of the other seasonals that Widmer brews.

The most bizarre beer. Pours golden color, nice and clear small head.
Smells of herbs. The aroma is so strange, it reminds me of thai basil.
Taste is pretty similar, a refreshing crisp taste with a lot of saltine cracker flavors, but a seriously weird undertone that reminds me of the aroma. I cannot put my finger on it but it tastes like fresh herbs.
The hop blend is an interesting combo, but who knows when it will change next?

Intersting!

This beer features a bright, light gold color with a short-lasting initial head. Very fruity aroma! Ripe peaches, it seems to me, with a light citrus hoppy tang. The flavor follows as well, and is quite tasty, with fruity, grassy notes. Malt is very light, as befits the style, and it finishes rather dry and peachy. A very good summer beer with a distinctive flavor.