Carnie Fire - COAST Brewing Company

jmarsh123

Indiana

4.66/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Courtesy of rbradley. Thanks!

Pours hazy orange almost red with a big cream colored head. Clumps of lacing all the way down the glass.

Aroma is bursting with fresh citrus hop aroma. Grapefruit, lemon and tangerine along with some pine resin as well. Toffee and freshly baked bread form the malt backbone.

Flavor is more of the same and wonderfully balanced. Those bright citrus qualities show up at the front before rounding into a chewy bready toffee. Finishes earthy and piney with a distinct bitterness.

Medium bodied with a little stickiness to it. Lowish carbonation amplifies that, although the hop onslaught prevents it from ever approaching sweet.

Fantastic red ale and one of the best I've had. Reminds me quite a bit of fresh Nugget Nectar or Zoe. Would love to do a side by side with all those as I think this may come out on top.

Serving type: growler

02-11-2013 20:54:14 | More by jmarsh123

Daktah

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -5.4%

04-12-2013 14:18:27 | More by Daktah

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%

03-31-2013 21:44:24 | More by mikeincharleston

dlcoblen

South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%

03-31-2013 02:27:54 | More by dlcoblen

plato

South Carolina

2/5  rDev -52.7%

03-09-2013 00:52:52 | More by plato

mdunahay

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%

02-28-2013 02:13:33 | More by mdunahay

SPRichard

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%

02-25-2013 21:23:37 | More by SPRichard

One2Remeber

Florida

4.18/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Friend brought down a growler filled this morning.

A: Medium amber color with an orangish hue. Slightly cloudy. Off-white solid head.

S: Great hoppy presence with a mild sweetness. Clean, pronounced.

T/M: Light, slightly spicy hops. Light caramel sweetness up front of a red ale. Turns to more of an amber ale with hint of prune flavor.

O: Full of flavor while having a light body. Easy drinking. Highly impressed with drinkability and flavors.

Serving type: growler

02-11-2013 13:31:27 | More by One2Remeber

FUwolfpacker

South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%

02-10-2013 04:06:44 | More by FUwolfpacker

zac16125

South Carolina

4.05/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bottle into a pint glass
Bottled on: 2/6/13 (the joys of drinking local)

A: Pours a slightly hazy, dark amber orange with 3 plus fingers width of light khaki colored head. Leaves lots of thick lacing.

S: Tons of great citrusy hop aromas, tangerines, lemon zest, grapefruit. These are accompanied by some resinous piney hop notes. Caramel and sweet bread notes provide a firm malt backbone. Awesome aroma.

T: Less of a hop bomb in the taste than on the nose. Lots of malt; caramel and roasted malts. Burnt toast. There is a good hop presence as well, but unlike the nose that exploded with citrus hop goodness, the hops on the taste are mostly piney hop bitterness. Big flavors for a low ABV beer.

M/D: Full bodied. Appropriate carbonation. Drinkabilitiy is good.

O: Overall, another tasty offering from COAST. Not my favorite Red Ale, but quite tasty and certainly worth a drink. Ill drink this again in the future, for sure. Recommend.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 19:26:40 | More by zac16125

spycow

Illinois

4/5  rDev -5.4%

01-12-2013 06:55:43 | More by spycow

Jamesthebrit

Michigan

4.08/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Explosive head from a easy pour. Color is reddish dark amber. Very dark for an ale. Interesting color being not too red.

S: Hoppy. Malty. A bit light. Nothing special.

T: Hoppy! Malty! Nice! Something spicy in there... alcohol comes through a bit as well. I mean, certainly not unique but super big flavor notes! Bring the intensity of a high ABV beer but isn't....

M: Flavors are nice. Carbonation, while being way too much, is smooth on the palate.

Overall this is a great beer. The flavors here are super powerful compared to other beers I've drank... I've drunk? I've drunken? Anyway, a great beer. Nothing really special in terms of flavor notes but it really brings the power!

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2012 00:11:19 | More by Jamesthebrit

sendbeer

Georgia

3.75/5  rDev -11.3%

10-29-2012 15:45:19 | More by sendbeer

fehrminator

North Carolina

3/5  rDev -29.1%

10-22-2012 14:19:58 | More by fehrminator

Ryan011235

Ohio

3.88/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into an Allagas glass on 9/21/12

Bottled on 08 24 12

Darkened copper and rust colored with a touch of honey at the stem. It's cloudy to the point that I can't see through it. It poured a two finger head that receded slowly, leaving scattered webs of lace. Retention holds around 1/8th inch.

Aromas of dank pine and tropical citrus hops jump out of the glass and are trailed closely by a balance of caramel and toasted bread. Hints of biscuit dust. Notions of sugar cookies as it warms.

The flavors are similar to the aromas and progress in much the same fashion, though the taste has much more of a kick. Sticky pine tar bitterness leads of, accented by zesty citric tones. The malts are more toasty than sweet. Toasted bread, dry caramel and perhaps a hint of cocoa.

The actual body is on the thin side, but the overall feel is bumped to medium territory due to gripping hop resin and full, prickly carbonation. Hop resins linger a spell. The body thickens up a bit over time and with warmth.

Overall, Carnie Fire is really good, but not extraordinary. It has a good balance between hops and malt, giving a bit of a preference to the former. Worth a shot.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2012 08:45:45 | More by Ryan011235

GossageBrewery

Missouri

3.9/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served this Red Ale on tap at the brewery, in a pint glass. Poured a hazy amber color, produced a nice off white head, excellent retention and it left a good amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma consisted of malted grain, caramel and piney hops. Medium in body, the foundation of this ale was toasted grain, caramel, and an unexpected pleasant piney hop finish. A higher hop profile then most red ales, this brew makes for a great session ale.

Serving type: on-tap

10-05-2012 16:06:19 | More by GossageBrewery

Satchboogie

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev -5.4%

09-23-2012 16:18:20 | More by Satchboogie

BlackBelt5112203

South Carolina

4.78/5  rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

22 oz bottle poured into a pint glass at fridge-cellar temperature.

L – Deep amber color with a 3-finger bubbly, frothy cream-colored head. Really nice retention and great lacing. A cap of cream-colored bubbles stays on the beer surface all the way down. Clear with a decent amount of bubbles.

S – Lots of stuff going on here. Bready, toasty, nutty, caramel malt and a resiny pine, grapefruit, and mango hop bouquet. Smells pretty hop forward for an amber ale, but there’s definitely a healthy dose of malt here, as well.

T – Follows the nose very well. Starts off sweet with caramel and bready malt as well as grapefruit and mango flavors. The toasty and nutty malt flavors come into play about mid-taste. Immediately after, spicy bitterness starts to build with pine, grapefruit, and mango notes. Bitterness and spice keeps building to a tremendous finish.

F – Medium-to-full-bodied with decent carbonation, a sticky, chewy, and creamy mouthfeel, and a very bitter, spicy, and dry finish. Hop spice and bitterness lingers very nicely.

O – This is a fantastic amber ale. It’s definitely on the hop-forward side, but there’s also certainly enough malt to back it up and call it an amber ale. The solid amount of malt is evidenced by the fuller-than-expected mouthfeel. It’s very surprising that this is only 5% ABV because it drinks and feels much bigger than it is. That’s not to say that it’s not as drinkable as other 5% beers. It just has so much more flavor and aroma than other beers of its strength. And yes, it’s very drinkable, too. This is a must try. Awesome job, COAST!

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2012 02:01:55 | More by BlackBelt5112203

jrohrbacher

North Carolina

4/5  rDev -5.4%

09-02-2012 19:35:30 | More by jrohrbacher

Momar42

Maryland

3.8/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle at House of Brews in Mt Pleasant, SC.

A - deep cloudy hazy amber. Moderate quickly disappearing head.

S - not strong but very amberish.

T - easy drinking for an amber. Nice tang and smooth. Not wowed by the style but good for what it is. Definitely a quality amber.

M - creamy and full for sure. But finishes clean.

O - really a solid amber. Can't help feel a bit meh for the style but if I had to drink amber it would be this or fresh NN. I would be hard pressed to choose NN over this Coast offering and that's saying something.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2012 19:48:23 | More by Momar42

JISurfer

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%

06-21-2012 05:06:14 | More by JISurfer

scottyshades

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%

06-14-2012 22:13:58 | More by scottyshades

markasparov

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%

06-13-2012 00:57:59 | More by markasparov

MacQ32

South Carolina

4.58/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours a beautiful slightly hazy deep amber color with sizable fluffly near white but slightly cream colored head, about 5 minutes later there's still ~ 1/2 inch remaining, lacing is excellent. Poured into a slightly oversized DFH signature glass. Looks amazing

S - Lots of rich caramel malts, fairly toasty and maybe even a little grainy. A nice piney presence mixes in with citric aromas. Mmmm

T - Lots of piney resinous flavors with a bit of a grapefruit/citrusy follow up. The sweet caramel holds its own after the initial bitter pallet rocking, still getting some of those grainy qualities.

M - Perfect. Medium bodied but very refreshing especially with the nice dry hop profile. Appropriate carbonation.

O - I had this once before and really wanted to enjoy it again but whoa, this is much better than I recall. A new go to for me! Near perfect

Serving type: growler

05-23-2012 18:46:45 | More by MacQ32

Cane4Beer

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%

05-22-2012 15:14:18 | More by Cane4Beer