Hey there Wild Heaven brewing of Decatur, Georgia. Have you been reading my reviews? I’m well known amongst my beer guzzling friends for ranting about so-called “session IPAs”, and what do you do? Instead of brewing up one of those beers, you offer a lighter but still hoppy beer called Let There Be Light and you properly term it an American Pale Ale! It even has malt to it, too. Indeed, my friends at Wild Heaven, you have seen the light.
Wild Heaven is amongst the newer tier of Georgia brick and mortar breweries. They started life as a contract brewer until they got their brewery built, and now I’m happy to say that they have. Wild Heaven Let There Be Light was rolled out in 2012, and I was lucky enough to try it at my local Taco Mac here in Canton the other night. Of the beer Wild Heaven says:
Who says lighter beers have to be boring? Wild Heaven Craft Beers has taken on that challenge with their brand new brew Let There Be Light. As the brewery’s first “sessionable” beer, Let There Be Light comes in at only 4.7% ABV yet is full of flavor. Starting with both barley and wheat, brewmaster Eric Johnson added two rare hops—Nelson Sauvin and Sorachi Ace—along with a bit of orange peel, to create a complex beer with a citrus note that will change the way you think about “light” beer.
Kudos for calling this beer sessionable and not session. At 4.7% by volume it’s above the classical 4% threshold. Let There be Light has 30 IBUs and I paid a reasonable $5.50 for my 20-ounce mug.
That mug of Wild Heaven Let There Be Light arrived a dark amber orange color with a medium sized head formation and a very citric lemony nose from the Sorachi Ace hops. Taking a sip, I get chewy caramel malt up front in the palate appropriate to the style. As the beer develops on the palate piney resin comes in, along with bitter citrusy orange peel, and a long dry bitter finish. Lots of flavor here folks, a great hop character and yes, there is malt!
The lemony citric character made this beer a great match for a plate of Calamari I enjoyed this afternoon. I’ll be buying this again for sure, and if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to look for it in bottles……
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft