La Citrueille Celeste De Citracado
I’ve had a few of Stone Brewing’s recent collaborative releases the past year or so. This latest combined effort sees forces from Stone Brewing, The Bruery and Elysian Brewing coming together to craft one of the more interesting pumpkin ales I’ve had. This 5% ABV effort is brewing with a variety of malts (honey and rye included), as well as yams, pumpkin, toasted fenugreek, lemon verbena, and birch bark. That’s quite a mix of ingredients.
I’m not entirely sure what fenugreek or verbena are, but thanks to the Internets I’m more educated on the subjects. That said, I’m not sure that I noticed either of these ingredients in this beer — a beer which I found delicate and subtle in its flavor profile. The beer is light and decent enough, but I’m not sure my palate is sophisticated enough to fully enjoy all that went into its collaborative recipe.
Appearance
It’s not until the beer is held up to light that you can tell it’s more than just a brown beer — more ruby highlights reveal themselves. A decent sized khaki head drops slowly.
Aroma
The brew smells delicate with hints of pumpkin and birch. I don’t pick up much of the yam on the nose and I suppose the herbal component is the fenugreek and verbena.
Taste
Much like the nose the flavors are quite delicate and soft, as well. The yam comes out more with the pumpkin and birch. There’s a drying and herbal quality to the finish after a touch of toasted malt pass through. A slight hop bitterness also reveals itself toward the back half of each swallow that goes along with a touch of lemon astringency.
Overall
I’ve said that the aroma and flavors of this collaboration are delicate and subtle. They are. I understand that not every beer is going to be packed to the brim with obscene amounts of flavor nor should most of them. I just would have liked to taste a bit more out of this one. Perhaps it’s the nature of the ingredients or that (as stated) my palate isn’t up to par, but I was left wanting more.
Rating:3/5