City Steam Blonde On Blonde - City Steam Brewery Café

JMD

Connecticut

4/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours a cloudy golden yellow with hints of burnt orange. Frothy white head that fades slowly.

S: Great hoppy aroma. hints of pine and citrus with some bready notes.

T: Tangy hop flavor with big blast of citrus. Lemon zest and ruby red grapefruit dominate, but balanced with some bisquity malt. Herbal with some hints of vanilla and spice

M: medium bodied, crisply carbonated.

D: This is a solid offering from city steam. Great flavor and very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2011 22:16:35 | More by JMD

Chegui

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +25.3%

05-14-2013 21:18:17 | More by Chegui

PoppyParthenonE

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-04-2013 02:07:15 | More by PoppyParthenonE

davewlfpckfan29

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%

04-30-2013 04:41:22 | More by davewlfpckfan29

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.96/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Never heard of this brewery before, and it's right in my backyard over in Hartford, which is closer than Boston. Oh yeah, a date on the bottle! Bottled on 2/28/13.

The head rises up after the pour finishes and gets to a nice 1.5 finger fluffy and thick head, that fades semi slowly with nice soapy lacing, over a hazy sediment laden obviously bottle conditioned and unfiltered. So far so good...

nose is nice for an APA, grassy slightly herbal earthy hops, a bit of a leafy hop aroma, with some grainy toasty blond malts. Pretty simple but done fairly well.

Taste is lighter at first, but not bad... a light grainy toasty blond malt kicks off first with a slight juicy malt sweetness and faint amber malt flavor. Then hops kick into gear, lighter at first but increases with each second in my mouth and each sip. starting with a grassy leafy hop and mild bitterness, slightly herbal and earthy as well but not vegetal or that Euro style hop I can hate. A very light juicy citrus hop kicks in as well, but very light, with a faint orange pith. The hops get a little spicy the longer it goes and more bitter, to finish with a quite bitter spicy earthy grassy hop that dries quite a bit, long quite bitter grassy spicy hop finish that borders astringent.

Mouth is med bodied, nice fluffy carb.

Overall a nice APA, drinkable, tasty, decent hop to malt balance but the malts are a little light overall, nice carb, nice hop profile as that seems to be what they were going for the grassy leafy slightly herbal hop flavors, although I don't really get teh "West Coast American" aroma hops.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2013 19:54:38 | More by jlindros

kaelingirl

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -20.8%

04-22-2013 13:10:08 | More by kaelingirl

cbutova

Massachusetts

3.39/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- Poured from the 12oz bottle into a small snifter, not perfect but I feel like snifters handle all styles very well. A fairly clear body with a blonde color. A foamy head forms with fine bubbles and about one finger high, nice retention. This cap leaves a lot of long, fuzzy lace rings.

S- European hops with some sweet light caramel malts come out the most in the aroma. Floral, some citrus, peach and herbal hops in the nose. Fades out pretty quickly after drinking some, have to really try to pick things up.

T- Hop flavor is immediately more noticeable here, specifically the elements of Euro hops. The classic spicy and herbal flavor comes through as well as some floral, pine and grassy elements. Light malt sweetness, fresh cracked grain and some caramel provide a backdrop for the hops. A lot more bitter than I would expect, just seems like an abrasive bitterness not like the good hoppy kind.

MF- Light body overall with big, foamy carbonation that feels silky on the palate. A good creamy texture with the aforementioned harsh bitterness.

Pretty decent hoppy pale which I respect because of the heavy use of European hop strains. However, there is a semi-abrasive bitterness that isn't the good kind that comes with most hoppy brews, could be a few things but it takes away a bit from the enjoyment.

Serving type: bottle

04-18-2013 02:17:05 | More by cbutova

Ograd001

Connecticut

3/5  rDev -20.8%

04-06-2013 13:30:24 | More by Ograd001

BGsWo22

New York

2.75/5  rDev -27.4%

03-23-2013 18:18:25 | More by BGsWo22

BigRob329

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%

03-23-2013 00:17:51 | More by BigRob329

DarkLordPsycho

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -20.8%

02-20-2013 03:57:26 | More by DarkLordPsycho

rorjets

Connecticut

3/5  rDev -20.8%

02-10-2013 02:34:43 | More by rorjets

cosine

3/5  rDev -20.8%

02-02-2013 22:33:41 | More by cosine

ejane

Connecticut

4.75/5  rDev +25.3%

01-20-2013 16:03:27 | More by ejane

MarkSansone

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev +18.7%

01-02-2013 18:43:07 | More by MarkSansone

WhaleHopper

Connecticut

4.43/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Blonde in name and color only, not really a "Blonde Ale" - but description says a very hoppy pale ale, so that's spot on. Certainly more pronounced aroma and bite than typical pale, verging more on mild American IPA in taste and mouthfeel. Strong cascade presence in aroma and taste. Great on tap at the brewpub.

Serving type: on-tap

01-02-2013 18:41:18 | More by WhaleHopper

Kendo

New York

4/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Poured from the bottle into a pint glass. Body is hazy dark golden with a small whitish head. Decent amount of lace left behind.

S: Fruity and hoppy - citrusy hops over fruity yeast and sweet malt.

T: Good balance between sweet and bitter, with a good amount of fruitiness thrown in as well. Starts out fruity, then becomes malty-sweet (think honey and butterscotch). Finishes with citrus (orange & lemon) bitterness.

M: Light-to-medium in heft. Good creaminess.

O: Good stuff.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2012 22:42:08 | More by Kendo

jwgkicks

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

11-12-2012 00:44:29 | More by jwgkicks

seplo

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

11-01-2012 21:43:46 | More by seplo

Milkysunshine

New York

4/5  rDev +5.5%

11-01-2012 02:28:06 | More by Milkysunshine

Duesler

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

10-30-2012 22:19:25 | More by Duesler

slim2043

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%

09-30-2012 19:07:38 | More by slim2043

jefftuck47

Connecticut

3/5  rDev -20.8%

09-16-2012 23:22:20 | More by jefftuck47

blmar311

Connecticut

4/5  rDev +5.5%

09-16-2012 20:37:33 | More by blmar311

RMoeNay

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

09-15-2012 01:25:12 | More by RMoeNay