6.5

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Draught pint at the brewpub with SuIIy on 4/8/06
Utterly clear golden-blonde ale, with just a ever-so-slight hint of copper. Fizzy white head quickly recedes to cover and then ring and then nothing, no lacing (Head retention did not seem to be a strong point at Bullfrog). Fair amount of bubbles rising in the liquid.
The nose is dry, very crisp and borderline carbonic, but warming allows pils malts and almost six-row huskiness to emerge. Hops appear from the onset and are a welcome presence. Floral, light grassiness and some dried, basil-like herb notes. Clean, though, with no powderiness, vanilla, dms or whatnot.
Flavor is snappy and quickly effervescent. Crisp yeast and heavy carbonation bite at the palate, while light honey and hay-like maltiness is minimal, though importantly, not lacking. Hops are flowery, herbal and quite apparent again. There is certainly some water to this, and obviously it wasnt boiled very long, but it is still quite refreshing and clean. Upon warming, I found light cideriness to be the extent of the "off" notes, if you could even call it that (though it does interrupt the delicate hops and dosent work with the honey-grain maltiness). No alcohol apparent, and I was shocked to see it was 6% abv. A tremendously refreshing golden ale-lager hybrid.