Review by: Cory Smith

You know I’m a sucker for the local craft beer scene, and you know that Cleveland is one of my favorite cities, but I’m not sure you know how much I respect and adore one of their smaller breweries, Indigo Imp. In the fall, we had the pleasure of meeting the owners, Matt and Kathy Chappel, at a beer festival, you can read about our experience here, and we have nothing but great things to say. They were fun to talk to, and gave us some deep info about their brewery.

Indigo Imp is all about Belgian beers. Not to say that their beers are all Saisons, Quads, and Sours, but they almost always do open fermentation with a Belgian yeast strain pitched in. This process makes sure that the beer will ferment normally, but also allows any wild yeast or wild flavors to mingle with the controlled wort. While this practice seems risky, it makes for delicious brews that are truly unique batch by batch. They also bottle condition all beers, causing them to have that sense of old-school realness that force carbonated brews just can’t achieve.

Blonde Bombshell is an American Blonde ale with floral and spicy hop flavors. It should have a strong malt presence, while having just a kick of flavor from the yeast as well. Blondes are normally well balanced beers, so I’d be surprised by any over-the-top hop or caramel type flavors. I’m excited to try this brew again, so let’s dive in!

Appearance:

So, before I talk about the actual beer itself, I have to talk about the packaging. The blue wax coating on the bottle cap is a touch of pure class. Indigo Imp gives one waxed-over bottle per six pack that they call the “Imp Bottle”. It looks so cool that I feel bad actually opening this thing, but, in the name of beer, I must!

This beer is exactly what the name promised — a Blonde Bombshell. It’s a dark-honey color that has just about the same clarity as honey as well. When I popped the bottle open, beer foam came pouring out. That happens from time to time with bottle-conditioned beers, the carbonation levels get too high and when the bottle is opened the gasses expand. The carbonation on this thing seems through the roof, but makes for a beautiful, billowy, creamy, tight, vanilla-colored head.

Aroma:

Blonde Bombshell packs a sweet and fruity punch. It’s like smelling a peck of freshly picked green apples. It almost smells like a sour, but not as strong. Notes of caramel and biscuit from the malt is also present. There doesn’t seem to be much of a hop aroma, if anything, the hops add a peppery spiciness.

Mouthfeel:

I got worried when the bottle exploded on me, I thought it would mean that this beer was all carbonation and no substance. What actually happened, is that all of the excess carbonation left, and what remains is a perfectly carbonated beer. Blonde Bombshell has a light to medium body, and coats your mouth with a thin layer of sweetness that quickly dries away. It’s as if the sweetness wants to stay, but because the beer is so dry, it won’t.

Taste:

You know a beer is complex when one flavor doesn’t jump out at you right away, but instead the flavors are layered like a parfait. I mostly get a lot of malt: some breadiness, biscuit and cracker type flavors, and a touch of caramel. Following the malt are green-apple flavors and crisp, refreshing, dry tartness. There’s also a great fruity flavor almost like strawberries right in the middle of the sip. I think this beer shows the pros and cons of open fermentation. It has some complexity, but the flavors are all a bit “off” for me. Kind of like they were accidentally there, which, coincidentally, is exactly the case.

Conclusion:

As I said, this beer shows both the good side, and the bad side of open fermentation. While all beer back in the day was susceptible to the elements, now-days, breweries pride themselves on having repeatable, highly controlled recipes. This version of Blonde Bombshell is not as good as the version I had at the beer festival in November. It’s not a bad brew, but some of the flavors seem “dirty” to me instead of “wild”. Maybe I’m making too much of semantics, but it’s hard for me to judge a beer when I’m not sure that it tastes the way it is supposed to. That being said, I think the open fermentation added tartness, dryness, and a really cool strawberry note that I didn’t expect from an American Blonde ale.

I’m going to give this beer a 75, C. I would have rated the last Blonde Bombshell I tried higher, but because of it’s unpredictable nature, I can’t assure that every beer is going to be as good as my first one. It’s not necessarily a bad beer, and I’m sure I’ll give it another try, but I’m just not overwhelmed with it. I could easily see myself drinking this brew while laying by the pool, or even if it is paired with a home-made apple pie. Just like each batch of this beer, everyone is different, and maybe you’ve had a stellar experience with Blonde Bombshell (like my first one). I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

-Cheers!