North Coast

North Coast Le Merle

/ Adam Barhan / Leave a comment


North Coast Le Merle, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

A: The pour is a cloudy golden orange color with an huge white head that eventually dies down and leaves some nice lacing.

S: The nose is driven by the cracker and bread malt aromas along with a strong yeast presence. Some light citrus zest along with some pepper and banana. Not all that much that says saison.

T: The flavor is similarly boring. The intense carbonation mutes what flavor is there. Again, this beer is mostly wheat bread and yeast (almost doughy) with a light citrus component.

M: Over-carbonated to say the least. The body is medium, but the intense carbonation is just a bit too much.

D: This is a rather mediocre beer. North Coast gets a lot of notoriety because of Old Rasputin and Old Stock, but I’ve found most of their other beers to be mediocre.

North Coast Old Stock Ale 2012

/ Adam Barhan / Leave a comment


North Coast Old Stock Ale 2012, originally uploaded by adambarhan.

A: Pours a dark caramel/toffee with a thin light cream-colored head. Almost entirely opaque with some carbonation.

S: Smells of toffee and caramel. Rich malt base. Still fairly hot in terms of alcohol.

T: Definitely still fairly hot. This is my first of these, and even with a year on it you can definitely taste the 12.5 abv.

M: Medium to full body with a smooth creaminess. Definitely large alcohol notes; this is still quite hot, although still good. This is a beer that could definitely use quite a bit of time more in the cellar.

D: Again, still a little hot. Still, quite nice. I’m hoping that some time in the cellar will help the complexities in this one come out a little bit more.