Aroma Coma 2013: Very disappointing

Had Coma and Prieta side by side at Beachwood, Coma was the clear winner. This was my first time having Prieta and it was quite unspectacular. I've had past batches of Aroma Coma and enjoyed this years as much as the last.

 

Frankly, I can't get enough of it. It's a little maltier than what I look for in an IPA, but damn if it isn't a juicy citra bomb!

Interestingly, I didn't care for it all that much last year. Cheers to the new recipe?

 

You know we're on the West Coast when people call Aroma Coma malty. It's a damn good beer but I wouldn't call it malty.

 

Fair enough. To be clear, I'm not saying it's malty in general...just saying it's got more of a presence than I look for in the style. As I'm having one right now, I'm not even sure that's true... Whatever, it's a damn good beer when fresh!

 

I thought it was missing that mango flavor I remember so well. But still very tasty.

 

Definitely has a bigger malt body for the style. Most of their hoppy beers do.

 

has this one hit orange county yet?

 

Yes.

 

I did the same thing at Beachwood. Aroma Coma is better imo. I drank them after a Melrose IPA so I was immediately disappointed that I didn't just order another Melrose. Prieta was kind of weird and spicy. Certainly not worth searching for.

 

one more vote for this being a strange tasting IPA. Didn't hate it, but wouldn't order it again.

 

Haven't tried it yet this year, and maybe it's all true but ... I have to say, people complain about this sort of thing with pretty much every seasonally released beer. Especially the hoppy ones, which for some reason are never as hoppy as they were the year before.

I'd say there are a few possible explanations:

1) The beer companies are changing their recipes just to fuck with us and to mess up the sales and reputations of some of their most popular products.

2) The brewers used the same recipe but failed to adjust for differences in this year's hop crop, thereby revealing that they understand less about their business than most amateur homebrewers.

3) We're all experiencing a mass lupulin shift, so beers that once seemed filled with hop flavor seem a little bit more bland every year, even though the recipes, IBUs, hop schedules are the same.

4) People can't really remember what a beer actually tasted like one year ago, so the comparisons are pretty meaningless.

I'd say #4 sounds most likely, but maybe there are some possibilities I'm not considering?

 

While I have enjoyed Aroma Coma in the past, I was disappointed with this last batch. I felt the same way about the one-off Alpha Session batch they did a couple of months ago.

 

Agreed. Loved it last year. Couldn't wait for it this year. Now I want my $9 back.

 

There must be a per batch/bottling issue cause I had a bunch last year and have had 2 bottles (so far) of the '13 and its every bit as glorious as I remembered. Hope you guys get a good one, its a damn fine beer.

 

Whatever...more for me!

 

Never had it before. Had a Priete and Coma at BottleCraft, liked the Coma better, grabbed a bottle to take home. Liked it so much went to Best Damn BS yesterday and grabbed 3 more.

 

Had my first Aroma Coma last night along with Zombie Dust and Alpha King and I thought it was very good.

 

Still can't find any on the shelf in North County San Diego. Anyone know of a place?

My local Bevmo said they were supposed to get it twice but the distributor didn't have any left that day and got pushed back until next weeks delivery.

 

Try Holiday

 

Drinking the Prieta right now and I have to say it blows Coma out of the water. Loads of Nelson flavors going on. I love it.