Here’s a beer I picked up in Charleston this past July: Coast Brewing Dead Arm American Pale Ale. As you probably know. American Pale Ale is usually meltier and always hoppier than English Pale Ale. It’s almost like a halfway point between pale ale and India Pale Ale.

Coast describes their version as Highly hopped, light malts. A nod to the West Coast style.

They list the following ingredients:

Pilsner, Vienna, Wheat and Oat malts, Cascade, Chinook and Columbus hops.

My can says the beer is 97% organic. It has an alcohol content of 6% by volume and was running $11.99 a six-pack at Total Wine, about $2 more than it should command. My can is stamped as canned on 03/27/18 so a few months old when I bought it. I drank it on October 21^st while watching football. This is just beyond what I would think the shelf life for such a beer should be (six months).

Coast Brewing Dead Arm American Pale Ale pours to a bright orange color with a thick head of rocky foam, at least at first. Approaching the last contents of the can, sediment emerges and clouds the beer in my mug considerably. Taking a whiff, the beer has a robust fruity nose of tropical and passion fruit and citrusy grapefruit, with the latter winning out. Taking a sip, the beer has a medium maltiness that is firm and about right for the style, with soft resiny notes and more citrusy grapefruit pith and peel. It finishes quite bitter indeed and is a tasty classic rendition of the style.

Those 3C hops are really apparent here and I enjoyed the beer much. Even with age it bursts with classic hop character; I’ll have to try it again a bit younger. Four stars on its own merits with a half star off for the high price.



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