Blonde on Blonde Pale Ale

Blonde on Blonde Ale
1 12 oz bottle, $2.00++, 6.0% ABV

Purchased at Whole Foods, West Hartford

Oh yeah! Blonde on blonde action! So clever! So hot!

Yes folks, another brewer going for the prurient market with a blatant porn movie term to name one of its flagship ales. I have no issue with it at all; just feel the need to point it out (as if you didn’t notice).

But it’s contract brewed at Hooker! That means that these are, officially, blonde on blonde hookers! Okay, non-hookers are vastly more attractive and sexy to me, so that doesn’t work. For me. I think I may be in the minority though.

City Steam began bottling fairly recently and initially stuck to their two constants: This blonde “American pale ale” and their Naughty Nurse amber. Ironically, these are probably the last two beers I ever order if at City Steam. It’s not that they are bad – just that they are kind of boring. (That, and I hate saying “naughty nurse,” but again, that’s just me.)

I am not expert enough to be able to tell you how much, if at all, different the bottled blonde is from the draught blonde. But they always say “real blondes” are better than “bottle blondes,” right?

Now, as opposed to what the name may make you think, City Steam says this is an American pale rather than a straight up “blonde” lager. So I was expecting more hops and generally more flavor from this beer than from a typical blonde ale.

And, to some extent, that’s what I got. Not a lot mind you, but there are some hops and other counterbalancing sweet aromas and flavors here. The blonde on blonde is more complex than a blonde. But isn’t that always the case?

City Steam says:

A very hoppy, very pale CONNECTICUT ALE. Brewed with German hops for bitterness, Zythos and Cascade hops for aroma. 14Plato. Oh Mama!

I disagree here. It’s certainly not “very hoppy.” At least not in 2012 when there are plenty of insanely hopped beers out there. Maybe when this brew was first created it was one of the hoppier offerings out there (very possible), but certainly not anymore. Not even close.

Blondies on blondies on blondies on blondies…

And what’s up with the all caps “CONNECTICUT ALE” followed by hops from Europe and the west coast? Just struck me as a little funny is all.

This isn’t a bad beer and if you’re having a deck party on a summer’s day, you’ll do fine serving this. Just don’t have it available at a bro party… because how many “blonde on blonde” jokes can you handle?

I mean, really handle? Serve judiciously.

Overall Rating: B-
Rating vs. Similar style: B

Beer Advocate’s Reviews of Blonde on Blonde
City Steam Brewery & Cafe
Back to CTMQ’s Reviews of City Steam’s bottled beers
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