Merry Maker
Coast Range Brewing Co.

 

Purchased a 22oz bomber off a warm shelf at BevMo Fresno in early 2007, when I opened it in mid-May '07 I realized it was the 2005 seasonal! Poured into a pint glass.
A: 1 finger of lingering fine head. Luminous rich amber color. A feast for the eyes.

S: Hops predominates with malty/alcohol undertones. Dark fruit.

T: Lacks the burst of hop bitterness that I expected from the smell. Pleasant malt sweetness, immediately followed by an unpleasant bitter flavor. This is definitely not hop bitterness, it is almost woody in dryness, not pleasant at all. I attribute this bad taste to the lengthy warm aging and low alcohol content.

M: Silky smooth, very pleasant.

D: I could not finish 22oz of this, though I believe it would be better fresh.

From a 22 oz bomber this poured a nice orange to red color with a fat head that was a light yellow, and left good lacing. Big nose of pine hops, and light malts make this simple but enjoyable. Good mouthfeel. Flavor shows some citrus and the finish is nicely bitter. Like everyone else I am not sure where the 2004 date comes from as this seemed fresh to me

This beer poured a neutral amber color with a hint of orange. The head was white and fairly thick lasting most of the beer with a good amount of lacing. The smell was a very floral aroma with hints of citrus, a lemon - orange smell, with just a hint of toasted malt.

The taste of this beer was very bitter and had a nice bitter aftertaste. There was a big hop taste with just a slight hint of citrus and even less of a dry malty flavor. The mouthfeel of this beer was good with the CO2 being good, but just a slight watery characteristic.

All in all a really good beer and the bottle was dated 2004 and it still tasted good for being a regular IPA, plus they were only $2.95 a bottle. Give em a try if you can find one.

22oz brown bottle poured into a tulip. It forms a seafoam loose off white head that had decent staying power. Shiney copper body with a small string of carbonation rising from the middle of the glass.

Plenty of hop goodness in the nose. Really up front and personal. They smell piney, spicey and clean. Amazingly the first pull had me thinking where is the body of this brew? This comes across very thin and watered. Hops are nicely done and fit well but the lack of anything to give this substance really hurts the overall enjoyment.

Notes: Hmmmm a tough one to judge. There were elements I liked and some ???'s about the depth. Its a tweak or two away from being good. For now its average.

Dark amber orange complexion, about eighty percent clear. Frothy uneven sticky haze covers over the brew. Smells pungently malty, like musky malts with some stale hops mixed in. Fruity, like fruit cocktail, especially the little slivers of cherries that can be found on occasion.

Tastes like a cross between an IPA and an amber, mild on the floral and weedy hop characteristics and much more sweet and bodiful than other IPAs I'm used to taking in. Big on fruitiness -- apples and fruit punch. Bitterness is present on the edges and in the after -- but all over the place. Good body and hop roughness.

Not very exciting nor complex IPA here.

02/01/05- Purchased at Beverages and More in Sacramento, CA

Presentation- 22oz bomber with no expiration date. Poured into my 24oz glass mug.

Appearance- Amber-gold pour with a nice medium bubbled yellow-white head and above average lacing.

Smell- Tons of grapefruit and pine. Extremely sweet smelling. More of a scent I notice on most good DIPA's. Candy sweetness in the nose.

Taste- Lots of bitter hops, but not much if any malt. Quite unbalanced. Not sure if they were shooting for this taste or not.

Mouthfeel- Fairly thin and watery. Not horrible, but definitely noticable. Medium carbonation level.

Drinkability- Not a bad beer, just really unbalanced. I actually kinda enjoyed it. I didn't mind the lack of malt. I guess every once and a while I like just a shot of hops. If it had been a little less watery I would have really liked it. If you like a well bananced IPA, this isn't for you. If you just want a shot of hops injected into your viens (get your hop fix), this one might be right up your alley.

Pours a clear reddish orange beer.

Smell is a little malt and a bit woody with a strong grapefruit hop scent.

Taste is a little malt and heavy hop bitterness. This is a definite hophead brew, heavy hop bitterness. Flavor is very woody and a bit of grapefruit and a bit of a metallic taste. Mostly this is just very over hopped with nothing much to balance it.

Mouthfeel is thin.

Not a high scorer in the Drinkability department, it seems to be an all extract beer that is just hopped to hell. Probably about 70 IBUs of bitterness. Drinkable but not something I can't recommend unless there is nothing better available.

Pours a clear and pale- almost orange- amber, with one finger of *quickly* dissipating head.

The aroma is *intense* pine resin, but sharp and turpentiney rather than broad and syrupy.

The taste is completely dominated by massive, sharp pine-hops. The malt backbone resembles the 90 lb weakling who got shoved into his locker every day in gym class. In a beer with bigger and better malt, the massive pine hops would be welcome, but in this beer everything just seems *out of balance* (and not in a good, Arrogant Bastard sort of way).

The body is thin and watery, and not nearly substantial enough to stand up to the hop assault offered in this beer. And no, it doesn't feel dry, if just feels watered down.

Avoid this beer.

Pale red color, medium head, with a hoppy aroma. Slightly roasted malts, aggressively hopped. Hoppy and bitter, yet malty with some sweetness. Good flavor. Nice balance of hops to malts. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is bitter, with some hoppyness.