Brewed By: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois
Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 2014
Style/ABV: Fruit Beer, 5.2%
Reported IBUs: 15
This tastes very nice, and it does live up to its name. You get bready, honey-cereal, honey-biscuit, honey-cracker malt notes, with nice layers of strawberry jam, strawberry preserves, and slightly tart strawberry astringency (similar to what you might find in pie filling that isn't overly sweet). There also appears to be a pretty big hop note in here, with some floral hops showing up in the aroma and on the taste. I'm getting some pretty strong floral bitterness that almost veers into citrus.
This is pretty nice...albeit simple, much like the Abita Harvest Strawberry. This is light to medium-light bodied, with good palate depth and low complexity. At 5.2%, this is still crushable in the 6-pack format. Up front: hops, strawberry juice, strawberry jam, preserves, bready malts with honey; that rolls into more jam, slight hop bitterness, some fruity strawberry notes, strawberry fruit roll-ups, honey; the back end trails with malts, grain, cereal, lingering bitterness, and lingering strawberry candy.
Reported IBUs: 15
Mmmm...strawberry beers. About Destihl:
Destihl is a brewery (Bloomington) and brewpub (Normal, IL & Champaign, IL) based out of the Midwest. Specifically, the middle of Illinois in the middle of the United States. Daaaa midwest. The brewery was founded by CEO & Brewmaster, Matt Potts, in 2007. Like many brewery founders, Potts started out as a homebrewer, and would eventually trade his law school education and law practice for those sweet barley suds. Destihl currently brews a myriad of regular and barrel-aged beers, including an increasing portfolio of tasty sour brews. For more info, check out their website.
The Destihl Strawberry Blonde is an, "American-Style Blonde Ale with whole strawberries added." This one won the bronze medal at the 2012 World Beer Championships, and a bronze at the Great American Beer Festival in the fruit beer category.
Much like the Abita Harvest Strawberry, this beer pours into a hazy, orange body. This one is slightly darker than the Abita, and slightly less hazy too. I kicked up a couple of fingers of golden-tinged head, and the head retention is nice. The head looks to be creamy, and sustaining nicely. There is also some lacing.
The aroma here is much more nuanced than the Abita Harvest Strawberry...I'm getting strawberry jam, strawberry preserves, honey, and some bready biscuit notes. As I dig a little further, I'm getting some strawberry pie filling notes. It's very nice...simple, elegant.
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| Destihl Strawberry Blonde |
Much like the Abita Harvest Strawberry, this beer pours into a hazy, orange body. This one is slightly darker than the Abita, and slightly less hazy too. I kicked up a couple of fingers of golden-tinged head, and the head retention is nice. The head looks to be creamy, and sustaining nicely. There is also some lacing.
The aroma here is much more nuanced than the Abita Harvest Strawberry...I'm getting strawberry jam, strawberry preserves, honey, and some bready biscuit notes. As I dig a little further, I'm getting some strawberry pie filling notes. It's very nice...simple, elegant.
This tastes very nice, and it does live up to its name. You get bready, honey-cereal, honey-biscuit, honey-cracker malt notes, with nice layers of strawberry jam, strawberry preserves, and slightly tart strawberry astringency (similar to what you might find in pie filling that isn't overly sweet). There also appears to be a pretty big hop note in here, with some floral hops showing up in the aroma and on the taste. I'm getting some pretty strong floral bitterness that almost veers into citrus.
This is pretty nice...albeit simple, much like the Abita Harvest Strawberry. This is light to medium-light bodied, with good palate depth and low complexity. At 5.2%, this is still crushable in the 6-pack format. Up front: hops, strawberry juice, strawberry jam, preserves, bready malts with honey; that rolls into more jam, slight hop bitterness, some fruity strawberry notes, strawberry fruit roll-ups, honey; the back end trails with malts, grain, cereal, lingering bitterness, and lingering strawberry candy.
Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this...I guess we will call it a tie with the Abita Harvest Strawberry. Although, this one is a bit more full in terms of the malt presence, which adds much-needed body. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I like it, and you should pair it with warm weather, any dessert that has strawberries in it, or a nice fruit salad.
Random Thought: TGIF...I'm ready to sleep of the last parts of this cold I have this weekend.
I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this...I guess we will call it a tie with the Abita Harvest Strawberry. Although, this one is a bit more full in terms of the malt presence, which adds much-needed body. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I like it, and you should pair it with warm weather, any dessert that has strawberries in it, or a nice fruit salad.
Random Thought: TGIF...I'm ready to sleep of the last parts of this cold I have this weekend.
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