Mind PHOQ
La Cumbre Brewing Co.

a strange but tasty coffee pale ale, one that really smells a lot like the java, but is hardly there in the flavor, at least until the finish, perhaps why its named what it is. golden beer, no sign of the coffee there at all, lively from the tap. aroma is strong of deeply roasted drip coffee, bitter and sweet and nutty and chocolatey, really appealing, rich, and a little sugary with the malts. i smells some hops right behind it, the pale ale part of this, but they are definitely compatible with the coffee. i am all set up to know what this tastes like, but when i sip it, it is something else entirely, with hardly any coffee there at all. the hops have leapfrogged the coffee and now we have an american pale ale through and through, balanced and hoppy, with the only coffee being at the very end, even after the swallow, almost gone entirely from the nose. a faint vanilla note is there giving it some sweetness to balance at the end, but its weird, like the coffee just vanished, pretty crazy experience really. i like the beer though, the hops and what is there of the coffee is nice, and it tastes fresh and different. clever stuff, highly drinkable too!

 

 

Type: 16-oz. draft
Glass: Clear willybecher pint glass
From: La Cumbre Brewery in Albuquerque, N.M.
Price: $5.50
Purchased: May 5, 2016
Consumed: May 5, 2016
Misc.: N/A

Made it here within an hour and a half of landing in Albuquerque. Went with the plan of picking up some cans of Elevated and maybe grabbing a few bombers of Project Dank. Ended up staying for three beers and taking back some Elevated. Saw that this one was a Coffee Pale Ale and made it my first choice.

Poured a honey, golden, clear color with 2-to-3 fingers of white, rocky head when I got it. Serene setting underneath the head. Great amount of uneven foamy lacing. Good retention. (Sight - 4.50)

Smelled dark roasted coffee beans, roasty nuts, bitter dark chocolate, chocolate milk, dark milk chocolate and some cocoa. (Smell - 4.25)

Taste followed the nose, getting dark roasted coffee beans, smoky ashtray, roasted nuts, bitter dark chocolate, Hershey’s Dark Chocolate and dark cocoa nibs. (Taste - 4.25)

Light body. Creamy texture. Average carbonation. Bitter finish. (Feel - 4.00)

Just a lovely beer. Would have this again for sure. (Overall - 4.25)

4.24 | 94 | A-

 

 

 

 

 

Poured in an 20 ounce mug at the brewery.

Arrives with a creamy, foamy hear a finger thick. Pale color on the head. Crystal clear dark golden body with brown hues. The clarity is stunning. 5

Faint sweet and nutty coffee aroma. Notes of caramel. Hard to detect much hop aroma. 4

Blend of spiced hop and caramel malt initially, but the beer opens up and is a unique pleasure. Mellow coffee undertones and sweet nuttiness. It's a nice marriage. 4

This beer is both assertive with hop spice and carbonation and mellow with sweetness and a creamy, thick nutty feel on the finish. It's impressive how the finish lingers bitterly but then there's a semi-sweet coffee taste and feel that lingers. 4

Just the kind of beer I'd like to see from La Cumbre. Something different but still good. 4