Natural Light Naturdays

When I first read about Natural Light Naturdays I thought it was a joke. I took it about as seriously as a snail flavored beer announcement of April Fool’s Day. Then when I found out it actually was a real beer, I instantly dismissed it. I knew I would try it at some point, but I thought for sure my low expectations would not be met and I would end up dumping the remainder of it down the drain.

When Naturdays started getting distribution to Western NY, I found myself  in no rush to buy it. However, I was stunned by how quickly it was flying off of shelves. Then, in an even more surprising turn of events I started hearing positive things from fellow beer enthusiasts. I was still skeptical but I decided to accelerate my time table for trying it and purchased a 30-rack. I justified that purchase because it was extremely inexpensive and  I was having a get together over the weekend. I thought most people there out of curiosity alone would give it a try. Later that night, I opened a can and got the biggest surprise of all.

After I took my first sip of Naturdays, I found myself staring at the can, stunned. I took another sip, then another, and before I knew it the can was empty and I was reaching for another. I could not believe how smooth, refreshing and easy to drink Naturdays was. It beautifully blends together strawberry lemonade and a light lager. Both are present and neither dominates the flavor. It is not overbearingly sweet either, and I was thrilled about that. The finish is crisp and clean, and that concluded a shockingly good drinking experience.

There is no need to dive deeper into more subtle notes of Naturday. I do not believe one spends less than 20 dollars on 30 beers to do that. I will just say that Naturday is a really fun, refreshing, crowd-pleasing summer beer. One that goes very fast at a party and one that I can’t believe will be taking up real estate in my refrigerator all summer long.


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Dogfish Head Super Eight Super Gose

From the moment that Dogfish Head & Eastman Kodak's collaboration beer SuperEIGHT Super Gose was announced, it was only a matter of time until I blogged about it. I am a fan of Dogfish Head's beer and I am the son & nephew of long time makers of Kodak film products. For that reason alone, I could not pass up an opportunity to try this beer as soon as distribution hit Western NY. 

What makes SuperEIGHT fun is that it is a 2-for-1 beer. It is a light, fruited session gose and it also develops Kodak's Super-8 film. It pulls this off by having a low pH which means that SuperEIGHT is going to be a touch acidic but that should work perfectly for the style.

As the can says, SuperEIGHT pours a vibrant red. Besides the beautiful color, the lemon, lactic sour aroma was the first thing I noticed as I poured the beer. The aroma is also very fruity, grainy, and a touch floral with the berries and prickly pear really shining. The pear added a really nice note of watermelon and that is the first thing I noticed and loved about my first sip. Raspberry and watermelon really come through in the flavor before a touch of malt and grain. The finish is very tart, with a touch of salt, bubble gum, green apple and lemon rind. The lemon rind lingers on the palate long after the beer is gone and to be honest is not ideal. Also, I can't say all SuperEIGHT ingredients are noticeable. The mango in particular seems MIA which is disappointing but there is still a lot going on here and this beer is a lot of fun. 

SuperEIGHT is one of those beers where Dogfish Head's unrelenting creativity pulls off something really cool. Sometimes, their use of adjuncts goes a touch a overboard and while this beer is no different, I found myself really enjoying it. With summer just around the corner, SuperEIGHT would serve as a wonderfully refreshing beer to both make and develop summer memories. I highly recommend picking it up.

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Omnipollo Super Size Hilma DIPA

If you have read my blog long enough you know I tend to buy the occasional gimmick beer. Whether it is a beer based on a show or band I like or a beer with an odd adjunct in it, I will give anything a try and hope for the best when I do. For this blog, I purchased one of those beers with a strange adjunct. Omnipollo Super Size Hilma is a double dry hopped imperial IPA with vanilla, crispy French fries, and burger buns. It sounds ridiculous, right? That was what I thought, but I was curious how it would all come together.

The aroma of Super Size Hilma did little to show off the fries & burger buns but gave me hope I was going to drink a fantastic double ipa. The aroma was very fruity, lots of fresh pineapple, tangerine, grapefruit, passion fruit, with a touch of grass, bread dough and a light hint of vanilla. At this point I was slightly disappointed that I did not notice the French fries in particular but I felt that I had purchased a really nice beer. I could not have been more wrong. Super Size Hilma is a disaster of a double IPA. The pineapple comes through initially, along with some citrus before sweet, bready malt takes over. This is the most dominant note of the beer. It certainly allows one to believe they are getting the burger bun aspect of the beer. The vanilla then comes through along with some grass before a very hot, saline finish. None of these flavors work well together. As far as the heat goes, letting this beer sit a few weeks might help that a bit. Nothing however, is going to help the salt aspect. It’s not refreshingly subtle like in a Gose, it’s very prominent and frankly does not fit well with anything here. It is also the only indication that French fries were actually used in this beer.

I spent a while trying to find something I like about this beer. It was priced at 7 dollars a can so I was trying very hard. Instead, I found myself pouring it down the drain. I was not expecting a great beer, I was expecting a fun beer, Super Size Hilma was neither.



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Labatt Blue Citra

When I first saw Labatt Blue Citra on the shelf, I knew it was only a matter of time until I tried it. Normally, Labatt is a brand I tend to shy away from. My reason for this has little to do with how it tastes, but more because of the memories associated with it. It was the beer from my early days of drinking that I not only lost some battles to, I lost the war.

To this day, I can’t look at Labatt Blue, Jack Daniels or Absolut Citron without feeling my stomach turn. Perhaps, one day that will change, but I have been thinking that for well over a decade and nothing has changed. However, when I first saw Labatt Blue Citra, a light, hoppy session lager, I surprisingly did not feel my stomach turn. I thought it had potential to be a nice, sessionable, reasonably priced summer beer. So for the first time in a very long time, I purchased a beer with the Labatt name on it.

The Citra & Mosaic hops featured in Labatt Blue Citra are light and most noticeable in the aroma. Zesty grapefruit, along with tropical fruit(particularly pineapple) come through along with bread dough, floral notes, herbal spice and grass. Once it hit my palate, the unfortunate memories of drinking Labatt Blue came flooding back. The familiar bready, grain malt sweetness comes through, and combined with the grassy, spicy finish should have made me nauseous. What was different though were the subtle notes of grapefruit & tropical fruit. They were a welcome addition to this familiar beer and I found myself enjoying them. I want to reinforce that the hops here are light but I do not feel like I needed more from a beer that was clearly brewed for a broader audience. The hops were just enough to make a familiar beer just different enough.

Labatt Blue Citra is not going to blow your mind. It is just a simple, easy drinking lager with a touch of hops. If you are a fan of Labatt Blue, I think you will like this beer. From the point of view of someone who typically avoids Labatt products at all costs, I found it to be a surprisingly enjoyable beer I would not mind drinking again when the weather gets warmer. I found that to be a pleasant surprise.


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Oskar Blues & Cigar City Bamburana

From the moment the Oskar Blues & Cigar City breweries announced Bamburana, a double barrel aged collaboration imperial stout, I had been counting the days until I could get my hands on some. It took longer than I hoped but it finally hit shelves in Western NY. I was so excited to purchase it that literally moments after it hit shelves I found myself in the car going to purchase it. I am a huge fan of both breweries and had extremely high hopes for this beer. Everything about it sounded fantastic and I am pleased to report that Bamburana did not disappoint.

Bamburana gets its name from amburana, a South American wood. It is a wood that adds unique flavors and reduces acidity. It successfully accomplished both in Bamburana. In fact, this is one of the most unique stouts I have had in awhile.

Bamburana spent time in both whiskey & brandy barrels but in both the aroma and on the palate they only play a complimentary note. Dates, figs, chocolate and the amburana wood are front and center here. The aroma caught me off guard in that aspect. Figs, dates, cinnamon, molasses, chocolate, caramel, an earthy woodiness and smoke shine with brandy complimenting the fruitiness. On the palate, the fruitiness of the figs and dates, along with notes of dark cherry and brandy come through initially before savory notes of cinnamon, licorice, molasses, ginger, coconut, caramel, vanilla and fudge. There is also a subtle espresso note, with a touch of whiskey before a tobacco, woody, spicy finish. With each sip, I found myself enjoying Bamburana more and more. It's a full-bodied, velvety smooth-sipper that offers a ton of complexity. In short, I am a huge fan of this beer.

These two amazing breweries have brewed a fantastic imperial stout. Since Oskar Blues contract brews some of Cigar City’s offerings I hope this is the first of many collaborations to see a wide release. That is looking to the future though. In the meantime, I highly recommend picking Bamburana up as soon as possible,


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Cherry Chouffe

Over the past few weeks I have been a bit obsessed with Rodenbach Alexander. It has been a mainstay in my refrigerator since I blogged about it and I do not foresee that changing anytime soon. Unfortunately, I cannot blog about Rodenbach Alexander every week, that would get fairly boring. So, to keep it fresh I picked up the new cherry forward offering from Brasserie D'Achouffe, Cherry Chouffe.

I will start this out by saying this beer is by no means as good as Rodenbach Alexander. In fact, I would say this straight forward Belgian-style fruit beer tastes more like Nyquil than Alexander. Being cherry forward is about the only thing these beers have in common. When I took in the aroma, I got a strong hit of cherry cold medicine. The phenols were noticeably strong in this beer. This carried over into my first sip. The cherry note is fantastic at times. It added a nice bit of tartness and blended well with the sweetness in the finish. There is a touch of graininess, licorice, toffee, chocolate and a vegetal note but they are mostly hidden behind the cherry. It’s weird to put it like this, but if you like the taste of cold medicine, you will enjoy this beer. If you hate the taste of cold medicine, I would strongly encourage you to purchase something else.

For me, Cherry Chouffe is definitely a one and done. It was by no means a drain pour for me but it is a beer I have little interest in purchasing it again. Cold medicine is a flavor I expect from cold medicine, not from my beer.

Once again, if you are looking for a cherry forward beer, go with Rodenbach Alexander.


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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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