For my first beer review of 2011, I revisited one of my first experiences with craft beer: Upland Brewing Company's Wheat Ale. I can't remember exactly when I first had this beer, but it's one I've gone back to several times and always enjoyed, and yesterday's offering was no different.
I usually enjoy being a budding beer snob, but sometimes I'm perfectly happy drinking cheap American swill. I'm talking specifically about going to Colts games at Lucas Oil Stadium. But good news, everyone! If you're willing to hunt one down, the stadium features two stands with Upland's Wheat Ale and Dragonfly IPA. And that's how I found myself drinking perfectly good craft beer out of a horrible plastic cup during a frustrating, sorta-lousy football game. What a way to start my year of beer reviews, right?
Still, even with so many factors working against it, that Wheat Ale is one tasty brew. It's a great introduction to craft beer, even in its color--a nice cloudy gold that's similar to, but much more interesting than, the standard Bud-Coors-Miller offerings. I didn't think to sample the aroma, but I'm not sure I would have gotten much considering the plastic cup (and having so many other lesser beers open near me wasn't helping anyway). Besides, we don't buy beer to smell it--we buy it to drink!
And oh, the drinking. Light and citrusy, with a nice clean finish. It's hard (for me, at least) to gauge the balance of malt and hop flavors because of the lemony taste, but please don't take that to mean that the citrus overpowers the rest of the beer. Really, everything here is working well together to create a delicious brew that just about anybody can (and should!) enjoy. If you've liked Blue Moon in the past, get ready to leave it behind.
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