Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Summer Brew

The perfect "beat the heat" treat.

Two Guys have been starting our blog posts recently with a little bit of history of our favorite beverage. We have advanced past the drinking beer through a funnel stage and now want to know more about the different varieties of beer that we enjoy so much. We are happy to share what we learn with our 4 loyal readers. Two Guys sampled a honey blonde ale for this review. But what exactly is a honey blonde ale? For that matter, what is an ale? Ale is a type of beer that is brewed from malted barley using warm fermentation with yeast to speed up the process. It is then mixed with hops to help preserve the beer and give it a bitter taste that offsets the sweetness from the barley malt. Honey blonde ale is where the malt is dried with coke (And no, it's not the kind of coke that a mountain of which will cause you to run down the stairs screaming "Say 'ello to my little friend.") It comes from coal and this particular drying process gives the beer a very pale color. Blonde ales are normally a little sweeter and less bitter than normal ales. Well, enough of our quick little lesson - now onto the beer.

Joe: On this sampling we tried Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Summer Brew.  If you keep track of such things, this is our second in a row summer themed beer. In our defense it is summer and it was 137 degrees when we sampled this beer. The Citra is a pale colored 4.30 ABV beer with high carbonation.  It is a citrus beer so it has fruit flavor. In this case an orange taste. But unlike the Liney we tried in the last review, it is very light. In my humble opinion, it perfectly offsets the hops bitterness on a hot summer day but does not overwhelm the taste. I thoroughly enjoyed this beer. I give it a 4.5.

 Justin: Its official, I have a new favorite summer beer! Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Ale is full of crisp flavor and is equally refreshing. The beer smells like how summer should. The citra hops provide many mild hints of grapefruit and oranges along with a delicious spiced characteristic flavor. The mild bitterness is nicely balanced by the malt sweetness. Underneath each bottle cap is a prost - in German it means "cheers", as a salutation accompanied by beer. My favorite of the night was A Prost: To beer bread without the bread. I definitely recommend this beer and it receives my highest rating to date of 4.5 stars!