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Spice and me are not generally friends. I prefer the bite of ginger over chiles but that said, a Thai Chile meets Citra hop IPA does intrigue me. And since Institution Ale Company is using their White Walls IPA as base, you can taste both versions.
Way back in 2022, Three Weavers brewed Citra Puffs, a hazy IPA. That beer has been downshifted into the more approachable pale ale category with the slightly altered name of Citra Puffs Juicy Pale Ale. Below the image is the brewery description…
“Citra, more Citra, some Mosaic, a little Comet, topped off with a final sprinkle of Citra all comes together in an easy-drinking 5.2% ABV package delivering a cornucopia of punchy fruit aromas. Just a sample of notes from our sensory panel: ruby red grapefruit, orange hard candy, lemongrass, mango, dankity dankness, pineapple juice, lime zest and passionfruit.”
You know El Segundo Brewing, they had to make “Citra…Just Citra-ier.”
They went and double dry-hopped their American Pale Ale so that you can try both to see what DDH does to the beer and to test how much you like the Citra hop
If I could decorate a wall with Brouwerij West cans, I would. And here is the latest iteration of 8 1/2….
This is part of their Single Hop IPA Series and this seasonal is all Citra. The label stickering is the art of Matt mills with design by Varnish.
I might break my record for cider talk in a month. Due to Two Towns Cider House sending me a care package of two of their new ciders on the market…
I started with the Hop & Stalk which is cider that has Citra hops and rhubarb added to the mix.
H&S pours a hazy dark yellow with a green apple aroma to it. Flavorwise this is a three way battle between rhubarb, green apple and the imperialized 8.2% ABV.
It is initially sharp and carbonated on the tongue. The rhubarb lurks between the brighter notes of the apple and also adds that extra oomph to take this from just boozy to complex. On the negative side, I did not detect any Citra hop aroma or bitterness.
Prickle Me Pink is more red when poured into the glass. This cider tastes like a cocktail made with a watermelon wheat beer. It isn’t syrupy sweet but it has a candy flavor for sure. It is a pretty red Kool-aid color but that is about it for the plus column. The Nopal is a distant taste and the cider aspect is bludgeoned by the watermelon which leaves the balance out of whack.
I am late to the party. This is my first time tasting the famed Citraholic from Beachwood Brewery.
This West-Coast IPA pours a pretty orange color. The aroma is mostly spice with lemon peel backing that up. The taste reinforces that duo with the lemon taking more of a co-star role. It tastes strong and a bit heavy almost to DIPA territory for me. But the lemon notes that alternate between just cut and a lemon pledge really works. And in the end it has an almost emonade quality.
Plus, Bless Beachwood for date stamping too. This bottle was 5 days old when I cracked it open.
April 29th, Beachwood Brewing bottles up another fan favorite. This time their “modern” west coast India pale ale, Citraholic is brewed with an abundance of Citra hops and blended with Warrior, Columbus and Simcoe in the kettle (for good measure). The citrusy brew is then dry hopped with a massive charge of Citra, imparting heavy aromas of citrus and tropical fruits along with melon and gooseberry accents.
This one will probably go real fast so don’t dilly-dally.