Coalesce Brewing

B.C. Beer Reviews with Nic Hendrickson: Coalesce Brewing – Lou

There are tons of new breweries popping up in the B.C. Craft Beer scene, and one of them is Coalesce Brewing. The difference between Coalesce and other new breweries is the route they have decided to take. One of the first things, for the majority of new breweries, is to get their own location/tasting room. Coalesce, who is currently brewing out of Twin Sails, has decided to go on the road less traveled.

B.C. Beer Reviews: Coalesce Brewing – Lou

Coalesce, a fancy word meaning to come together is a good way to describe the craft beer scene and the relationship between Coalesce Brewing and Twin Sails. They are coming together in hopes of bringing yet another interesting brewery to the very well know and respected Brewer’s Row.

Let’s crack this one open and see what all the buzz is about.

Colour

A translucent straw colour, both in the pour and when the glass is full. Despite having a very noticeable cloudiness you can still see straight through this one. An interesting colour and hue for something labeled as an ale.

Nose/Aroma

There is a very strong aroma of clove to this one. What is already a strong spice comes through very powerfully in this one. There are other spices at play here, but the clove is undeniably the strongest note this beer has to offer.

There is also a noticeable funk to this beer. It does not come off quite like a typical Brett strain, as there are none of the typical tropical/pineapple notes to this one. It is an interesting note to go with the clove and other spices that are very powerful aromas in this beer.

Other than those two notes there is not much else going on in this one. Clove, other indistinguishable spices, and a slight funk pretty well describe what this beer has to offer in the nose/aroma.

Tasting Notes

The spice and clove are very present on your palate from this beer. It is much less powerful than in the nose/aroma, but it is still very present. It is much smoother in the tasting notes than what it is in the aromas.

The funk you get in the nose/aroma carries over into the tasting notes for this one. There is a very noticeable funky note to this beer in this as well. It still comes off as Brettanomyces, but once again does not comes with the tropical and pineapple notes that Bretty typically has to offer.

There is a sweet and somewhat full body to this beer. It would not be considered cloyingly sweet, but still a very sweet taste to this beer that is certainly imparted by the malt/grain bill used.

Other Notes

This beer was significantly over-carbonated. Even with a very slow and meticulous pour, the head took up almost half of the glass. It stuck around for a very long time. It took some serious effort to be able to get to the beer below with how significant the head was.

There is also a very high level of carbonation to this beer. It is bordering being effervescent, which could very well play a role in how significant the head and the head retention of this beer.

The lacing on the glass from this beer is surprisingly significant as well. Fairly thick rings show where you finish each sip off. Light patches coat the glass between each ring as well.

Final Grade

This beer has clove and spice as the main player, with the funk being the side note to this one. It does not really offer anything of significance to any of these areas. It is a decent beer overall, but with how over-carbonated this beer was it made it more of a hassle to drink it than an enjoyable process.

Grade: 6.9/10

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Main photo by Nic Hendrickson, Lastword Inc., all rights reserved

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