First, you may wonder who is Excel Brewing?
Well, the guys over in Breese, Illinois (45 miles due east of St. Louis) have had a little operation over there for years called Excel Bottling. For citrus soda connoisseurs, Excel makes Ski, a wonderful citrus soda. Ski was introduced in 1956. Although often compared to Mtn. Dew, Ski has more citrus flavor and is not as sweet. When you can find it in the returnable bottles, it is still made with cane sugar and contains orange and lemon pulp.
Anyway, back to the beer.
The Excel guys decided that they had extra capacity and would give brewing a shot. Citra is their tribute to the most famous product of Excel.
Citra is a blond ale, flavored with orange and lemon. If you expected this to taste like a Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, well, you would be surprised.
Most notable with this beer is its definite ale taste. You get a bit of that clove aroma that is common with ales. It is definitely heavier than a shandy. It's not apparent whether the beer is made only with barley malt or if there is some wheat malt thrown in.
Overall, the body is heavy, the flavor is light with a citrus taste, and the beer is pretty good.
Will this be my "go-to" beer? Probably not, but I do plan on picking up a few of these from time to time.
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