Brewery Visit) Boulevard Brewing Co

First of all, Boulevard has a massive and very modern facility. The tour took nearly an hour and encompassed multiple buildings. We made our way through the original facility, stood outside by some fermentation tanks, and watched from a floor overlooking their huge bottling room. When we reached the "hand's on learning" part of the tour or the tasting room, I tried these as my two free samples:

Hibiscus Gose, Entwined Ale

Both of these beers are part of Boulevard's Backroads series. This group of beers is adventuresome taking you out off the beaten path of common beer types, so, naturally, I wanted to try them.

Hibiscus Gose) This beer was just released last week, and gose is actually a type of beer not just a funny name. A gose is a sour beer characterized by a strong citrus body with other notes ranging from herbal to salty. Boulevard's version combines all three of those by using hibiscus, coriander and sea salt. The mid and finish are very tart, but that tartness doesn't build or overwhelm. The experience of this drink was a bit like having lemonade without the sugar only not pucker-up sour. This is great summer drink. ☆☆☆☆

Entwined Ale) Boulevard set their goal at making a beer that tasted like white wine, and they succeeded. There's a touch of a lager-esque flavor just enough to remind that this is actually a beer. Otherwise, the taste is very much like a semi-dry white wine, and a very easy to drink one at that. ☆☆☆

KC Pils, Zôn, Tasting Room: Oatmeal Stout, Tank 7

While I finished sipping on my two free samples, I looked down the list of beers available for a flight. It didn't take long for me to choose these four. 

KC Pils) This beer is a very solid pilsner. The overall taste profile struck me as very similar to Lucky Bucket's Lager. The mid in this KC pils is a bit warmer though. This one's a solid go-to beer when you want something simple. ☆☆☆

Zôn) First of all, this beer's name is pronounced the same as "zone." The spelling comes from the Flemish, and it means "Sun." It's a witbier or "white beer" which is a type of beer that is usually characterized by its cloudiness. The finish has a light touch of grapefruit minus the tartness. The middle is fairly fruity, and the background has coriander. If the following Tank 7 hadn't blown my mind, this would have probably become my favorite citrus tasting beer. ☆☆☆☆

Tasting Room: Oatmeal Stout) I really hope they keep this one as more than just their tasting room series. I almost don't want to spoil the experience by describing it. However, the initial has subtle chocolate notes, and the finish comes out with a nice burnished roast flavor. This stout is smooth from initial to finish. I'm adding this one to my favorites list. ☆☆☆☆☆

Tank 7) I thought Zôn tasted like a grapefruit. Then I had Tank 7. So named for one of Boulevard's more quirky fermentation devices, this beer is unique and great. The grapefruit hops used gave this a taste like their citrus namesake. The finish keeps just enough of the tartness to make one happy, but Tank 7 doesn't overwhelm with sourness at any point. My only question now is "why didn't I have this one sooner?" ☆☆☆☆

Factoid: Zôn's special o can be made by holding alt and then while still holding alt, pressing 0244. When you release alt, then ô should appear. At least, that is how it works for windows.