Widmer Brothers Citra Blonde Summer Brew

A little hazier than I expected, but still a brilliant golden hue with a medium white head. Kind of a medley of citrus flavors swirling around together. Weird, but there's almost some carrot in there. A little more character than the mass produced beers, but not much out of the ordinary.

Drop Dead Blonde from Steven's Point Brewing

I've not been very impressed with Point beers in the past, and this one is no exception. Now, just because I'm not impressed doesn't mean that the ale doesn't taste good, merely that it's nothing out of the ordinary.

Drop Dead pours a crystal clear golden yellow with a fluffy snow white head. There's some barely discernible lemon and enough hoppiness that it made me compare it to a Pilsner.

Nothing to write home about, but a decent summer ale.

Weyerbacher Insanity Oak Barrel Aged Ale

Weyerbacher does oak bourbon of several of their offerings. This is the barrel aged version of Blithering Idiot Barleywine, which I reviewed recently: http://ill-gottenbooty.blogspot.com/2013/03/weyerbacher-blithering-idiot-barleywine.html All the good stuff that I said about Blithering Idiot goes for Insanity but double. You can really taste the bourbon and the oak adds a mellow, smooth finish. Classy, my friends, classy.

Goose Island 25th Anniversary Ale

Goose Island brews some good beer. That could be the end of the review! In additional to their every day brews like Honker's Ale, the IPA and 312, they have their premium Belgians as well as some fine seasonals  like the ever-changing Christmas Ale and of course, Summertime Kölsch. The anniversary ale is an ESB, Extra Special Bitter, a style which Lincoln beer lovers will recognize as the style in which Luna Sea by Empyrean is brewed. This ale pours a deep bronze with a medium khaki head. Heavy on the malts, but not stinting on the hops. There's an aroma evocative of herbal teas and maybe a little sweet caramel. Overall a good solid beer to add to the grand Goose Island family.

Odell's Deconstruction Ale

An interesting concept. Odell's allows its employees to experiment in the brewery, coming up with their own recipes that are tweaked and refined. With Deconstruction, they took one of the "pilot beers", the first step in the experimentation process and aged it in wine barrels. They then blended the wine aged pilot ale with the final recipe for the final product. One of them, I'm not clear if it was the pilot or the finished product, was basically a Lambic, fermented with wild yeasts.  The result was a tart, 10.5%, golden ale.

Deconstruction was the Joyce Family May Grill-Out "Special" Brew. 

Decon poured a coppery-orange, with the aroma of ripe pears and apples. The wine barrel aging imparted an earthy foundation and a bit of black pepper-seasoned caramelized onion (not too much though; let's not get crazy now!). There's an assertive presence  of Belgian yeast for a Saison/Farmhouse thing happening. Very nice...oh yeah...very nice.

Sam Adams Blueberry Hill Lager

Why am I drinking so much fruit beer lately? Because it's there. But mainly because it's one of those summer things, and a lot of the inexperienced beer drinkers think that variety in beer means different flavors, i.e. fruit and spices added, rather than the hops and malt imparting subtle and unique flavors. That being said, Blueberry Hill, despite the very strong blueberry taste and aroma, is a pretty smooth lager. It's very smooth, with some citrus underlying the blueberry. And, oh yeah, it tastes like blueberries.

Sam Adams Little White Rye

Finally...summer weather (or at least Spring weather) is here. While Beltane, May 1st is usually when I start in on the summer beers, it was snowing on May 1st, so it put me off schedule a little. Little White Rye is part of Sam Adams' summer collection, which includes Boston Lager, Summer Ale, Porch Rocker (a return from last year), Belgian Session (another return from last year), and Blueberry Lager (new this year) - thankfully, no Sam Adams Light, always in my opinion, a waste of space. Too bad the East-West Kolsch is absent though.  Little White Rye is, for the most part a witbier, with some of the classic wheatiness in the flavor profile, but a fair amount of rye comprises the grain that went into it, as well as a spice that I hadn't expected: white sage. In addition to the very obvious age, there is a fair amount of orange peel, and what tastes like lemon zest. The combination gives it an overall peppery bite. Pretty darn good. This is a seasonal, but may do well as a holiday beer as well, perhaps knocking cassis lambic off it's perch as my turkey-and-stuffing drink.

Sam Adams Longshot: Beer Flower Wheat

Pours a pineapple-yellow, with a medium white head. Distinct wheatiness, with some strawberry-like aftertaste (no strawberry was added however). Subtle floral aromas, with some sharp "graininess" that reminds me of sunflower seeds. Not at all offensive, but kind of "blah".

Schell's Goosetown

Schell's version of a beer style that I had not previously heard of, a Gose (pronounced Goh-suh).

Here's what Beer Advocate says of the style:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/16

Kind of an odd one, a little bit salty, characteristic wheat taste. Some lemon and spice as well. Not sure what to make of it.

Sam Adams Longshot: Magnificent Seven Imperial IPA

#2 from this year's Longshot triple threat six-pack, Magnificent Seven graces our palates with seven varieties of hops, outdoing the measly five hops found in Latitude 48. It pours a coppery hue with a stingy head. The mix of hops provides a rainbow of flavors, lemon, pine, and even some rye notes. A little bit of grapefruit, but not much. Kind of an oily sweetness (and I mean that in a good way) on the back of the tongue. Bitterness balanced with caramel - this is a winner - too bad it's a very temporary offering.