Beachmaster
North Coast Brewing Co.

 

 

Pours out dark amber with a hazy orange look to it. Smells of orange peel and mango and pineapple. Taste is bitter and mildly sweet. Taste follows the nose. A little bit of pine coming through. Strong quenching sensations on the back corners of my tongue. Mouthfeel is thin and slightly bubbly. Overall it’s pretty delicious but nothing makes it stand out as unusual or unique. It’s simply a good sessionable beer.

 

$1 bargain bin find at my local distributor! WIN! Not as sweet and heavy as other imperials I've had, which for me is a good thing. Not a great beer, but a very decent initial IPA. I think this is an approachable initial IPA.

BOTTLE:

I don't love the hop profile, and this too aggressively bitter and scraping on the palate anyway, with the loud bitterness drowning out all the hop flavour. Irritates the palate and is unrefreshing as well as a bit warm. I get unpalateable grapefruit, overwhelmed floral hop flavour, and pale malt. Maybe Crystal too?

I do love me some North Coast, but this ain't up there with their finest work. One of the most disappointing buys in recent memory, if only because I had such high hopes given the brewery behind it. It's honestly a bit of a chore to drink given the bitterness and lack of actual piercing hop flavour. Boy did I expect to love this, but it's just unpleasant and unapproachable.

D+ / NOT RECOMMENDED

 

Poured from a single serve bottle into a tulip.

Pours a shade lighter than amber with some haziness and some visible sediment. Limited head and retention but solid lacing. A pronounced collar clings all of the way down the glass.

Solid dank aromas hit the nose early, along with resins. Honey, grapefruit pith, grand marnier orange. Clover and other floral notes. Hints of oak and cedar. A touch of herbal anise. No shrinking violet this one--very audacious aroma.

The flavor is strong and complex and changes as the brew goes through temperature phases. In particular, honey can exhibit "sweet" "earthy" "floral" and "bitter" notes, and the honey notes in this brew display all of these qualities at different times. Honey, orange liqueur, and bready malts hit the tip of the tongue. Woody, earthy, floral, and dank flavors, along with grapefruit flesh, zest, and pith cross the mid-palate. The finish is stridently bitter and a touch boozy, with some black licorice/anise, but the honey kiss from the initial flavor is there at the end as well. As the brew warms, the honey flavor and earthy/oaky notes become more prominent.

Medium full bodied. Well carbonated. Not sticky.

Overall, this is a fine flavorful DIPA that does not immediately conjure "fruity" or "hoppy" adjectives, but hits the "earthy" flavor on the nose. Another "well done" for NCBC.

Pours an effervescent honey color with one finger of eggshell colored head. Good head retention & above average

S: Cakey, a little pine & grapefruit once warm

T: Cakey & piney, plus dryness & a little grapefruit up front. More pine, bready dryness & a little grapefruit as this warms. Finishes dry, sweet & cakey with just a kiss of pine, leafy hops & grapefruit

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, nicely balanced

A very solid old-school take on the style, nice drinker, ABV is well disguised

Light honey body with a creamy white head. Kind of a light hop presence; not at all overpowering, which I like. Hard to tell when this was bottled so they may have faded. The malt profile makes this super-drinkable either way. Its got the creamy-bodied mouthfeel that I wish most stouts had. Will be seeking this one out again.

 

 

 

Pours a gold bronze color. It had a musty smell and taste. Therr is also some oranges in there.

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a bronze color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is dank, pine, some citrus. Taste is dank, herbal, little of the pine and citrus in the aroma, moderate bitterness, alcohol is well hidden. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a pretty good beer.

 

 

Medium amber, slightly hazy color. Pine hops and dry malt finish. The sharpness of the hops doesn't allow the malts to come into the picture.

Mildly chill hazed amber with a small off-white colored head. It looks like 10,000 other amber colored ales.

Smell is woody and savory with a strong cedar wood scent. Strong tropical fruit scent and it really heavy on the papaya scent. Smells sweet but I keep smelling cedar plank in this one.

Starts out sweet and savory with a considerable bitter finish in the back of the throat. Taste of cedar and pine. Astringent after taste very much like sucking on a used tea bag. Taste wise though it is actually pretty mild.

Mouthfeel is good.

Overall though, I would buy Rasputin RIS over this one next time.