Jack’s Abby Citra Brau Lager

I am always looking for a great value and Jack’s Abby always seems to deliver just that. Over the years, the Framingham, Massachusetts Brewery has become a personal favorite of mine. The main reasons for that are they consistently push the boundaries of creativity with their lagers and they are always priced reasonably. I honestly can’t recall a single beer from them I have not enjoyed. Granted, there are some of their beers I prefer more than others, but that is how I feel about every brewery. Jack’s Abby consistently makes solid beer at a great price and their latest offering, Citra Brau, reinforces that.

I keep mentioning that Jack’s Abby beer is always a great value, but Citra Brau is the first beer from them that actually gave me “sticker shock”. “Sticker shock" is something that happens to every beer enthusiast at one time or another. It usually occurs when you find yourself paying a bit more for a beer than you expected to. For Citra Brau, a dry-hopped citra lager, I had the complete opposite reaction. A 6-pack of 16 oz. cans is priced around 10 dollars. Once I tried it, I felt like I had found one of the best values currently on the market. 

Citra Brau certainly showcases the citra hop but Jack's Abby balances it beautifully with a fantastic lager backbone. The aroma is super dank, floral, grassy, grainy and very fruity.  The taste matches the nose and as I mentioned earlier it is beautifully balanced. Orange, lemon, peach, melon, resinous pine and grass hit initially before the slightly sweet, grainy, crackery malt profile comes into play. The finish is dry, peppery, crisp & clean. Nothing here is going to blow you away, but this is a really nice, easy drinking lager with just the right amount of hop flavor.

Clocking in at 5.5%, Citra Brau is sessionable and a beer I hope to see year-round from Jack's Abby, especially for the summer. Citra Brau has "lawnmower beer" written all over it. In the meantime, its very reasonable price point could make it a staple in my refrigerator for the foreseeable future. Once again, Jack's Abby delivers another solid beer.


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Jack's Abby Kiwi Rising

I love this time of year. The weather is crisp, the leaves are changing colors, Halloween is right around the corner and the best beer of the year is starting to hit shelves. It seems that multiple fantastic beers are coming out each week and my wallet can't take it. Last week alone, I stocked my refrigerator up with some amazing offerings like: Lawson's Sip of Sunshine, Stone Xocoveza, Oskar Blue's Death By Coconut, New Holland's Dragon's Milk, Grimm's Double Negative, and the beer I am talking about today, Jack's Abby's Kiwi Rising Double India Pale Lager. It has gotten to a point that it could take several minutes for me to decide what to drink. I know whatever it is, is going to be fantastic but that does not make it any easier.

The reason I want to talk about Kiwi Rising in this blog is that I want to tell you how great it is. Normally, I spend a lot of time telling you whether I think a beer is good or not. I am just going to start this blog off by telling you Kiwi Rising is amazing. Brewed with New Zealand hops and not Kiwi fruit, this beer is very hoppy(105 IBUs), easy to drink and wonderfully complex. I think it is safe to say it is my favorite offering from Jack's Abby. That truly says a lot because Jack's Abby makes some incredible beers. A few of the other beers I enjoy from them are: Mass Rising DIPL, Excess IPL, Framinghammer Baltic Porter, Cranberry Berliner, and Calyptra Session IPL. I am going to stop there because I feel that list could keep going and going and going. The point I am trying to get to is, no matter what you buy from them you are most likely going to get a great beer.

The reason I want to talk specifically about Kiwi Rising is that I simply want to spread the word about it. I have found that too many of my craft beer drinking friends have not tried it or even worse, haven’t heard of it. To someone who loves this particular beer I find both to be simply unacceptable. Each Fall, as soon as it hits shelves, I buy it and every year it delivers something special. The aroma is floral, to a point it is almost perfume-like. Big notes of citrus, tropical fruit, pine resin and bread dough all stand out nicely. The first sip matches the nose to an extent but the doughy malt really shines initially, really giving this DIPL a solid malt backbone. This is followed by pineapple, grapefruit, grass, orange, candied mango, lime and an herbal, piney, crisp finish. Kiwi Rising is dangerously easy to drink at 8.5%. You might find that the first one goes down very easy. Just take a moment to contemplate before reaching for the second.

Kiwi Rising is the perfect beer right now for our Bi-Polar October weather. For a hot day, it delivers a crisp, easy drinking hoppy lager. For a cooler night, it provides a full flavored beer that warms the soul. Basically, if you love a good hoppy beer, this is a must try. Make sure you hurry up though, this beer never stays around long.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!