South of the Pier
Coronado Brewing Company

Could be incredible but settles for very good

Had South of the Pier poured from pint can, no date, gift from brother, into nonic pint.

For a West Coast IPA, a bit hazy, with somewhat muted fruity aromas, and rather malt forward, but no shortage of hop bitterness.

Sweet tropical hoppy and hint of malty, bready nose on this one! Taste follows with a smooth and balanced, hoppy bitterness that is subtle and not overpowering. This has a nice and soft feel on the palate! This is a good and refreshing westie!

Appearance - Pours a copper gold with four fingers of frothy white head.

Smell - mild piney, earthy, floral, leafy, weedy, and hint of citrus hops, pine resin, grapefruit and orange peel, bready malts, caramel, and earthy yeast.

Taste - piney, earthy, floral, leafy, weedy, and hint of citrus hops upfront. The brew then goes into the pine resin, grapefruit and orange peel. The bready malts, caramel, and earthy yeast round out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes sticky and dry with the hops lingering.

Overall - A straight forward easy drinking American IPA. This one has the bite from the hops but nothing in particular is a stand out. Still, a pleasant and quaffable brew.

 

I do not know if I rated this so high because I am so sick of hazy BS, or it is really just that damn good. Love that it is dry but lacks the bitterness of West Coast IPAs of yesteryear. Not surprising by the hops used but I do like my Amarillo and Mosaic hops. Indifferent or unfamiliar with Waimea and Motueka.

She is pretty. Canned 1/21/20
Golden and clear. Capped by a fearless froth of sea foam white. Consistent supply of new bubbles from the carbonation. Eventually the head retreats to a consistent slick. Patchy lacing.
Initial eruption of grassy, earthy hops, akin to alfalfa followed by lemongrass and hints of resin, and just a tad dank. It melds and mellows a bit. But initially it really grabbed my attention.
Taste isomer of the grass and alfalfa, almost absent are the citrus notes. You got to search to find. But there is an organic, earthy depth to the alfalfa and grass. A slight herbal spice comes through as well, almost peppery, but not quite. An undertone of cracker peeks in as well. Like how it begins, but doesn't quite follow the nose faithfully.
Mouthfeel has a consistent carbonation, somewhat slick, but a warming bitterness comes through on the finish. I mark it up more for how it begins and holds in the middle, but the finish drops most of the nuances of the ride.
Overall, she's a good starter out of the gate, but by mid race she's trying to keep her pace. Not bad, but not great.

 

Ooh, fun, a collaborative West Coast IPA featuring some fun Southern Hemisphere hops, created by two long-standing WC stalwart breweries. Love stuff like this and will never pass up a chance to give it a good shot.

The pour here is a completely clear medium-golden hue with a patchy yet somewhat endearing head of pure white foam. Some good carbonation activity is apparent in the body, while the lace and legs are in the realm of what I expect from this style. A little wispy and inconsistent, but there's some charm in that, and, of course, having a totally transparent IPA in a glass in this day and age is unusual... and I welcome it.

The nose is refreshingly bright and herbal with prominent earthy and grassy notes bolstered by some tinges of citrus and pine. I'm surprised this isn't as intensely aromatic as I figured it would be given the Amarillo + Motueka alone. I thought that would be a super awesome combination, but this kinda just smells like a moderately hopped, modest IPA. Perhaps cuz it's not "double dry-hopped" or whatever; maybe I'm spoiled by modern IPAs? The Mosaic isn't doing a ton here, so I would probably have to say Waimea feels most prominent in this hop bill. Unusual, considering it's basically a more neutral bittering hop, but I guess it could be considered fitting considering its similarities to other popular West Coast hop varietals. Anyway, this smells just fine, but not superb.

On the palate, this is fairly piney and floral with some strong notes of citrus (tangerine and tangelo-like elements) and guava, but otherwise, it doesn't feel like a lot is happening. It tastes kinda static and unexciting, which is unfortunate because if, say, the Motueka were pushed, the finish would have a nice key lime flavor that could really sum up the whole beer in an obvious way. No such luck... even Mosaic finds no real foothold here, and the entire thing seems focused on Amarillo and Waimea, but neither of them are really well-defined either. Feel is crisp, sure, and I would have no issue drinking a few of these, but given the hop combination and breweries involved in this collaboration, I'm disappointed, to be honest. Coronado and Pizza Port seem destined to create fantastic WC IPAs together, but... alas, this is not special whatsoever. Oh well, can't win 'em all.