Review: Surly Xtra-Citra Pale Ale


Here's a review for a beer that I thought I reviewed here a long time ago. Surly Brewing has been in Manitoba for just over two and a half years now, making Manitoba the only international market for Minnesota's Surly Brewing. I've been a big fan of their Xtra-Citra Pale Ale ever since I ever tried it at Flatlanders Beer Festival in June 2017.

From the label: "Get Xtra-Surly! you'd think hops in the bright sunshine would make us happy, but you'd be wrong. It just makes us Xtra-Surly. This bright colored session ale Xplodes with Citra hop flavor and aroma, in a deliciously drinkable brew. Put your shades on, and enjoy an Xtraordinary bright beer. Xperience! OK, enoughwith the X's. We promise. Cheers!" 4.5% ABV

Appearance: Pours a cloudy lemon yellow body with a light amount of carbonation in the body. The head is light but somewhat frothy with a whiteish hue to it.

Aroma: Citrusy! Notes of lemon, orange peel, grapefruit and a smidgen of pineapple. The beer is somewhat grainy, a bit of caramel and a hint of grassy hops at the end.

Taste: Malt forward with notes of caramel and a decent tropical presence to it - notes of lemon, orange peel, pineapple. Mildly grainy, fairly dry and a grainy aftertaste. There's a bit of a piney and grassy hop presence. Moderately bitter with a nice tropical presence to it.

Overall Thoughts: I probably buy this beer more than any other Surly beer. For being a session ale, it's got a lot of flavour to it, it's citrusy and mildly bitter. There was a time when my go-to place for a pint, Prairie Firehouse, had this on tap, those were the days!

One thing I find interesting about this beer's can is that this can has "Beer/Bière" text on it, only for the Manitoba market, so the brewery custom ordered a bunch of cans for a single market, pretty cool but likely very costly.

https://surlybrewing.com/beer/xtra-citra/

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