Coast Brewing Co.

Charleston, SC

More Consistenter Single-Hopped Rye Pale Ale

5.5% ABV

Not to be outdone by their S.C. beer brethren in Mt. Pleasant, Coast recently put out a Citra single-hopped rye pale ale of their own. Much like Westbrook’s Single Hop: Citra, More Consistenter lets uses a rye beer base to help showcase the nuances and flavors produced by Citra, one of the most popular and sought-after hops around. The hop is so popular that the entire 2013 crop is sold out, and if brewers missed out, they won’t be getting any until 2014.

I loved Westbrook’s attempt at the beer and was just as excited to see what Coast did differently. But the end result … well …

As with the Single Hop entry, the nose is unmistakably and deliciously Citra heavy. It’s like the tropics in a bottle, with lush notes of papaya, mango, juicy oranges, pineapple, peach and the like flooding the nose. But where More Consistenter departs from Single Hop is the sweetness that’s very heavy on the nose. There’s a sort of syrupy sweetness coating everything, kind of like you’d get from canned peaches. There’s not much of a rye spiciness on the nose, and if there is, it’s canceled out by the sweetness.

Unfortunately, what the nose giveth, the taste taketh away. It starts with a mild sting of bitterness on the front of the tongue, followed by a bite of carbonation and a pleasantly smooth mouthfeel. The finish is somewhat dry, which does a nice job of helping the hop bitterness hold on and finally reveal the rye spiciness. The rye bite is most prevalent in the middle of the palate after a few sips as the beer warms.

And … well, that’s really all there is. The big, juicy tropical fruit notes from the nose are more or less non-existent on the palate. From the smell, you’d expect a really flavorful beer, but it’s just not there. The rye certainly is, and the malt profile is good, but those peach and mango flavors you’d expect the Citra to impart are nonexistent. Maybe the Westbrook Single Hop spoiled me, but on the second try, this just isn’t what I’d hoped for.

I hate to say it, but More Consistenter is one of the more disappointing beers I’ve had from Coast. It’s certainly drinkable and enjoyable, and I certainly love a good rye beer – which this is – but the Citra just doesn’t shine on it as it does on the Single Hop variety. There just isn’t anything going on the in the taste except the rye, which is surprising given how flavorful the nose is. More often than not, Coast impresses me with their stuff, but More Consistenter is not one of their better offerings.