Bad Wolf Brewing Citra Saison
Manassas’ Bad Wolf Brewing had been open for a good little while before I had the chance to stop by, sample some products and bring a growler back to Barley Blog HQ. I blame that on my laziness, but now that the seal has been broken, so to speak, I’ve been back several times since. The first brew that I picked up from the nano-brewery was their Citra Saison — which is no longer available as the company loves to rotate through many different releases.
I actually purchased a half-growler of this beer without sampling it first, so I was going into it blind. I knew that I was in the mood for a saison and Citra has been one of my favorite hop varieties recently. So how did Bad Wolf do combining the two elements? Not too shabby and it turned out to be a nice introduction to the company.
Appearance
Citra Saison poured an unfiltered amber in color with a smallish, off-white cap of foam that fell gently to a full ring around the glass.
Aroma
A good amount of juicy citrus and herbal hop notes fill the nose with light yeast and soft pine. There’s not really much of a saison-like character here.
Taste
There’s definitely a solid hop character to Citra Saison. The beer is very citrusy and floral with herbal notes and a touch of light pine. There’s not much of a saison presence throughout with the exception of a subtle yeasty funk late as the we approach a lightly warming and drying finish. Overall, the brew drinks easy with a lasting hop tingle. I just wish there was more of a saison character to the beer.
Overall
While Citra Saison wasn’t quite the saison I was looking for, it still carried a good amount of the Citra hop character to thoroughly enjoy. I don’t know when/if it will be available again, but it served nicely as a first encounter with Bad Wolf and has only proved to draw me back several times since.
Rating: 3.25/5
