Backswing Citra Kölsch

The next few beer reviews will all be from Backswing Brewery in Lincoln, Nebraska. Based on the labels, none are particularly fancy, and certainly don't have fancy names. Number one on the list is a style that is a summer favorite of mine: Kölsch. The label lists it as Citra Kolsch - without the umlaut - but I like umlauts, and the standard spelling has an umlaut...) To refresh your memory, a kölsch is one of the hybrid beer styles. It is brewed using ale yeasts, i.e. top/warm fermentation. It is then "lagered", i.e. left to cool and age, sometimes for months. 

Backswing's Citra Kölsch clocks in a 22 IBUs and 5.2% ABV. This makes a eminently sessionable - low enough in alcohol content that you can have a few of them in a deinking "session", and very low in hop bitterness. It pours a hazy goldenrod with a towering cumulo-nimbus head. "Refreshing" is the first adjective that comes to mind. There's a subtle honey-like sweetness, and some peppery notes. As the name implies, there's some citrus quality, mainly orange peel and lemon zest with some grapefruit lurking in the background. Definitely a beer that you want to keep in mind for your summer beer drinking.