13/100) Boulevard Tasting Room Set

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Wheat, IPA, Ginger Lemon-Radler, ESB

In short, I like Boulevard. Their beers have a consistently high level of smoothness to them which makes them very drinkable. Therefore, I thought it only fitting to review all four different beers that came in my tasting room set instead of whittling the selection down to three.

Wheat Beer) Smooth. You don't get a strong yeasty flavor, but instead get a light citrus and healthy wheat taste. Just be sure to swirl the bottle when you pour it, because the cloudier the pour the better it seems to taste. ☆☆☆☆

Single Wide IPA) Smells sweet, and the finish is bitter. In other words, much to my chagrin it lives up to being an IPA. It is easier to drink that other IPAs I've tried, but the type of beer is just not me. So the two stars aren't a reflection of lack of quality, they just account for my lack of taste for bitterness. If IPAs are your thing, you'll love this one. ☆☆

Tasting Room Ginger Lemon-Radler) My initial reaction was "is this pop?" The lemon is very pronounced yet the ginger makes its presence known as a growing warmth. If the label didn't say otherwise, I would have assumed this was a mixture of lemon juice and ginger beer. The result, though far from the norm, is smooth and drinkable. ☆☆☆

Tasting Room ESB) I was pleasantly surprised that this beer didn't overwhelm with bitterness. Since IPAs, pale ales, and the like are not usually my style, I had foolishly lumped ESBs in with them. However, ESB's tend to not finish as bitter and therefore are much more drinkable to me. This one in particular has Boulevard's characteristic smoothness to it as well as a good light bitter hoppiness in the finish that neither shocks or builds as you drink more. ☆☆☆☆