Coast Range California Blonde Ale

Formerly brewed at Coast Range Brewing Co.
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Gilroy, California USA

My beer of the month shipment came yesterday, and I chose to sample a bottle of this first. This brew pours a clear deep golden with a huge creamy off-white head. The head has good lacing and is mostly lasting. The bold nose balances caramel and grain with flowers and citrus, with hints of spice perhaps ginger, clove, and pepper. The flavor is balanced with a moderate bittersweet start moving to a flowery fruity middle, and has a nice long bisquity bittersweet finish. This brew has a medium creamy body with soft carbonation, and finishes crisp. A most excellent offering.

This beer rocks. It’s been about a year since I last drank this beer. I haven’t seen it since then, so the commercial description will have to suffice. However, if you like other blonde ales or kolsch’s that I have rated highly, this one will certainly not disappoint you.

A beige light gold color, not quite yellow, more on the auburn side of things. Nice spotty sticky head. Nose of pale malts and a touch of hop bouquet. Extremely nutty and toasty, full nose of toasty malts. Fabulous. The flavor is surprisingly medium bodied with a nice herbal edge of hops and balanced sweetness. The finish is average, a bit musky with some off-notes of light gravity ale. Decent blonde ale with moderate hopping. This was quite good compared to almost all blonde or golden ales I’ve had before.

burnt-champagne tinted, fizzily but somehow perfectly carbonated. light lacy head which eventually disintegrates. the aroma (somewhat tinny/grassy) was not EVEN close to being a precursor of things to come. the first sip was a burst of fruity (but not too sweet) golden goodness. reminded me of the flavors that i so like in flying fish’s beers. (i wonder if they use the same hops or malts or something) if this is only 3% i could easily make this a session beer. quite yummy and very drinkable.

Nice butter malty aroma. Good label, ding for the twistoff. Light fruitiness, crisp hops and light malt sweetness give a good balance. Nice medium body, good fizz, light medium-long finish and good acid level on the backend. A good summer cooler, probably a good food complement.

This is what a beer is supposed to look like. Rich golden color that meshes well with the taste of fruit that has bite somewhere in the middle. So far both the bottles out of the beer of the month box have been winners.

honey-orange colour, few head, mild hop aroma, full bodied, bitter

Apples and pears in the nose, vinous, sweet flavors like a white wine while still reserving solid hop flavors and finish. This is not a wimpy yuppie blonde though it does sell well with that crowd at Amnesia SF. Coast Range is doing good things! :)