Lost Coast Watermelon Wheat Ale

The weather is getting warmer and that means it is time for the return of one of my favorite warm weather beers, 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon. I have never talked about that particular beer on this blog because it is my guilty pleasure beer. I call it that because every family member, friend, enemy and general acquaintance I have given a can to seems to think it is absolutely terrible. At first I was confused and disappointed by this. I thought, “how could anyone possibly dislike this beer?” Hell or High Watermelon is perfectly refreshing on a hot day. The watermelon flavor is light and does not overpower the beer as a whole. Eventually I gave up, or just ran out of people willing to try it, not sure which came first. Now I just keep the beer in the fridge for myself and welcome its return each year. I also find myself looking forward to trying other watermelon beers in hopes of finding one I enjoy more and/or one that might be more of a potential summer crowd pleaser. That is what caused me to purchase Lost Coast Brewery's Watermelon Wheat Ale and start writing this blog.

Lost Coast Brewery out of Eureka, California was a brewery I fell instantly in love with in my early days of craft beer drinking. I loved their Downtown Brown Ale, Indica IPA and Eight Ball Stout, as well as their creative bottle artwork. It has been a long time since I have had any of those beers. Still, I felt enough good will towards Lost Coast Brewery to pick up their Watermelon Wheat Ale and give it a shot. Unfortunately, that good will only could go so far.

Perhaps, there is no better way to put it than that Lost Coast's Watermelon Wheat Ale is terrible. I really wanted to like it but I just could not. The aroma was nice, mostly watermelon candy and a hint of malt. The nose did not come close to the first sip and that is where things went off the rails. The sweetness of the artificial watermelon candy started things off before giving way to a metallic, spicy, extremely chalky, astringent finish.  The chalky finish paired with the artificial fruit flavoring makes this beer seem almost medicinal. Outside of the aroma, there is nothing good going on here. Each additional sip I took I kept looking for something that resembled a refreshing summer beer. I did not find anything of the sort and was disappointed by a brewery that helped build my love of craft beer. Sadly, any good feelings of nostalgia I had went down the drain along with this beer.

Overall a 1/5. I may not understand why someone would dislike Hell or High Watermelon but I definitely understand why someone would dislike this beer.


To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Narragansett Summer Ale, Anderson Valley Summer Solstice & Magic Hat Stealin' Time

While summer has officially arrived, summer beer has been here since April. While that is all well and good, I am not interested in drinking a beer with a beach or sun on the label if snow could still fall at any moment. Now that it's late June and there have been consecutive 90 degree days, it's time for some light, crisp summer beers. But where to start? Beer aisles right now are loaded with summer beers trying to catch your eye and find their way into your coolers. So instead of letting you know if just one beer is good or not, I am going to review three very different summer beers so you can have a better idea of what is out there.

First up is Narragansett Summer Ale. This is a light, crisp pale ale that pours a clear gold with a white head. The aroma of bready malt, citrus and pine is very light but pleasant. After tasting, the flavor is very similar to the aroma. There is a light malt sweetness up front before the light flavor of citrus comes in and washes away fairly clean. I keep using the word light because that is exactly what this is. To be specific, it is a watered down pale ale. Normally I would make this a huge issue, but for a summer beer it works. This is an easy-drinking, sessionable beer that would work perfectly on a very hot day. Its 4.2% ABV puts it on the same level as Bud Light, it just tastes a lot better.

Overall I would rate Narragansett Summer Ale a 2.5/5. If you are looking for a light, easy-drinking beer for a day at the beach, this works nicely. If you are looking for something with a bolder flavor profile, I would leave this on the shelf.

Next up is Anderson Valley Summer Solstice. This is an interesting cream ale that pours a slightly hazy ruby brown with an off-white head. The aroma is slightly sweet, with caramel and lots of vanilla. Much like the aroma, the vanilla really stands out in the flavor as well. Right off the bat I was hit with caramel malt, followed by the bold flavor slightly sweet vanilla. These initial flavors work really nice together. They provide just the right amount of sweetness. But pleasant flavors then give way to a bland hop finish which really takes away from how good this beer could have been. That's not saying it's a bad beer, it's not. It's just a fun take on a cream soda beer with an underwhelming finish.

Overall I would rate Anderson Valley Summer Solstice a 3/5. I wanted to love it, I really did, but the finish just did not work for me. That being said, it's still too fun not to try.

Finally, we have Magic Hat Stealin' Time. Before I get started, I want to take a moment and mention that I really wanted to like this beer. This past winter I reviewed Magic Hat's Snow Roller and gave it a fairly harsh critique(you can read that by clicking here). I was hoping this pale wheat ale with ginger would restore my faith in the Magic Hat name. I am sad to say, it did not. Stealin' Time poured a crystal clear golden yellow(I thought it was unfiltered) with a fluffy white head. The aroma contained wheat malt, citrus, pine and ginger. Just from the aroma, I was fairly optimistic I would like it. When I tasted it, I realized how mistaken I was. Grainy malt comes through right away before pine, a light hint of lemon and a whole lot of ginger. The ginger is fairly strong and it could have worked if not for the strong metallic flavor that came along with it. Midway through the glass, all I could taste was ginger and metal. I ended up dumping out my glass which makes this the second Magic Hat beer I've reviewed and not finished.

Overall I would rate Magic Hat Stealin' Time a 0.5/5. It certainly lives up to its name. It steals time from drinking a good beer.


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　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!