Tangerine Crush
Newport Brewing Company

everyone is trying to do the lost coast thing all of a sudden it seems, a simple pale wheat beer with too much tangerine, ive seen a half dozen of them in the northwest this summer, not sure why now, but its happening. this one didnt move me much, one of the less impressive offerings we had at this awesome little brewery, killer spot they have here. this is yellow and cloudy but with a brightness still, short white cream head, looks the part. the nose is fair, wheaty yes, nice and pale and light, with some pils malt also evident, a ton of not quite real tangerine with a little perfume thing to it, tangy and sweet at the same time, and something a little off with the ferment, soapy and adding weight, not as clean as it should be, but definitely not an intentional wit or hefe thing either, a flaw. the flavor is the same, i like the grain part of this best, crackery and slightly european type pils malt marrying well, dry the whole way, and fluffy feeling. the tangerine is overdone and slightly cheap, a wrinkle of metallic character in it, and then the ferment which is off like it is in the nose, not way way off, but not dialed in either, in need of some cleaning up in order to become the drinkable and refreshing beer it set out to be. say what you want about lost coast being over the top, but that remains the one everyone is trying to copy for a reason, and this one is definitely inferior to that one at this point. a bit light on carbonation as well, not my favorite...