From St-Feuillien / Green Flash collaboration comes their Belgium Coastal IPA (7.5% alc, poured at home from a bottle). These collaboration beers are always fun to try, I often buy them on site.
Aroma and Appearance: Banana and clove dominate the nose and it pours a hazy gold colour with a massive head of foam and fast rising bubbles dominate the glass. It is also bottle conditioned, which is my favourite carbonation style and makes for longer storage potential.
Flavour: the cloves and banana fight it out in your mouth until you hit a great balance between the two and the bready malt takes over. It has a thick feel to it and touches your soft palette while leaving a spicy bitter finish that lingers in your throat. The higher alcohol gives off a bit of heat in your stomach, just to remind you that it is 7.5%.
Overall Impression: My first impression was holy shit this is good! Followed by my second impression, this isn’t really an IPA compared to other coastal ones, but it sure is good anyway and the IPA hop characteristic is there, but it’s kind of hidden. The very nice dry and spicy finish leaves you craving more. It is rated very high online and deserves its rating. Also a decent palette cleanser.
Rating: I would rate about 8/10 for a craft beer as in awesome. I knocked it down a point simply because it is a bit off style, but you can’t go wrong with this one. If you are expecting a coastal IPA, you will be surprised/dissapointed. If you are used to the clove and spice often coming from Belgium / European hefe’s, you will love it.
Food Pairing: This would pair brilliantly with a soft cheese like Brie or go well with spicy food.
West Coast Beer Geek 