For some reason when I hear a beer has coconut in it I have to try it. This has been going on for a while now and I do not seeing it stopping any time soon. I think coconut in beer can be fantastic. I also think sometimes it can be fairly disgusting. A fantastic example of coconut in beer is Oskar Blues' Death By Coconut. Actually, no beer has grown on me more the past few years than Oskar Blues' Death By Coconut. The first time I had it was on draft at a tap takeover. I thought it was good but it got lost in the shuffle with other beers I tried that night. These things happen when trying a lot of beer in a short time. The next time I had it was the following year. I liked it but still did not get the hype behind it. This past release though was when I fell in love with it. It really is a fantastic porter and I am looking forward to seeing it again. Another example of a great coconut beer is Stoneyard's Toasted Coconut Kareem Ale. I dug it instantly and I think it is a perfect compliment to a summer day in Rochester, NY. An example of when coconut does not work in a beer is DuClaw's Dirty Little Freak. I reviewed that one this past summer. It tasted like coconut soap combined with a bland base beer. That bland base beer drowned in adjuncts happened to be a brown ale. That was particularly disappointing because a brown ale is a style of beer coconut should have been a nice addition too. So I chalked it up to DuClaw just doing a bad job with it and I looked forward to trying a coconut brown ale from another brewery. I got the chance this week when I stumbled upon Bolo Coconut Brown from Burial Beer Company. I immediately thought revisiting this style would be perfect for this week's blog. I just hoped Bolo Coconut Brown would get better results than Dirty Little Freak did.
Bolo Coconut Brown's aroma alleviated a lot of concerns I had. The aromas of toasted bread, toffee, brown sugar, chocolate and coconut were quite pleasant. The coconut was not particularly strong and that worked for me. It played a nice role in the flavor by complimenting and not overshadowing anything going on here. Chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, toffee with a nutty, roasty, lightly pine finish were delightful. I did not mention coconut there because it is there throughout. The flavors here work very nicely together. My issue with the beer is it is on the thin side and seems a bit watered down. Unfortunately, the flavors that should be a bit more prominent seem to be on the lighter side because of it. If this beer had a bit more body I think it would have been outstanding. Still, everything worked here and I really enjoyed the beer. I just wanted to see bolder flavors paired with a fantastic coconut flavor.
Although I wanted Bolo Coconut Brown to have more body I really enjoyed the beer. Even better, I thought it was a remarkable upgrade over the coconut brown ale I reviewed previously. It is a bit off topic but I also recently tried Burial's collaboration IPA with Sloop Brewing Company, Money Bomb, and I really enjoyed it. Those two beers have me looking forward to trying more from the Asheville, NC brewery in the future. It also has me looking forward to seeing more coconut brown ales on the market as well.
Overall I would rate Bolo Coconut Brown a 3.75/5. Really enjoyed drinking it. The coconut flavor is really nice. I just wish it had a bit more body.
Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!
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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!
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