About 10 years ago, way back in 2015, I tried a beer from the Appalachian Mountain Brewery of Boone, North Carolina, and I immediately fell in love. That beer was Long Leaf IPA, and to this day it remains one of my very favorite IPAs. I’ve drunk a lot of it since then, but the funny thing is, it’s the only beer I’ve ever tried from AMB.

This past week, though, I walked into the bar at Harrah’s Valley River Casino in Murphy, North Carolina, and was excited to see an AMB tap handle. “Is that Long Leaf IPA?” I asked the bartender? “No,’ he replied, “It’s their Blonde Ale.” A bit deflated that this was not Long Leaf, I was at the same time encouraged to be able to try something new (for me) from AMB.

Hence I am here to tell you about Boone Creek Blonde Ale. The brewery says:

An ode to the creek along which we built our brewery, Boone Creek Blonde is a refreshing blonde ale with a zest of orange and hint of wildflower honey for our Southern twist. GABF gold medal winner.

I took my pint of Appalachian Mountain Brewery Boone Creek Blonde and headed out to the gaming floor, parked myself in front of a slot machine and enjoyed the light crisp maltiness of the beer. It’s accentuated nicely by notes of floral honey which also add richness in body. Citrus notes appear, and in the finish there is an almost peppery hop bitterness that balances the beer nicely.

Appalachian Mountain Brewery Boone Creek Blonde has an alcohol content of 4.7% by volume with 19 IBUs and I paid $7 for a pint at Harrah’s. Total Wine sells it for $10.99 a six-pack at their Winston-Salem, North Carolina store. I did not see it at Ingles in Murphy, but I did get a six-pack of Long Leaf IPA there (of course I did).

This was a tasty and flavorful blonde ale that really hit the spot while I was gaming. Rated to style, it gets very high marks indeed, and I would certainly drink it again.

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