Coulter IPA - Cismontane Brewing Company

UCLABrewN84

California

3.63/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap at Tony's Darts Away in Burbank, CA.

Pours a murky honey orange with a beige head that settles to a film on top of the beer. A foamy curtain of lace forms on the glass on the drink down. Smell is of citrus fruit, citrus zest, and malt. Taste is much the same with an alcohol kick on the finish. There is a medium amount of bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer but it smells better than it tastes in my opinion.

Serving type: on-tap

06-10-2012 05:24:50 | More by UCLABrewN84

Nugganooch

California

3.68/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On Tap at Stone Bistro
05-10-12

*Served in a Tulip

A: Pours a completely hazed over deep caramel amber color. Good finger thick of near white foam atop. Decent retention that leaves some tracked lacing down the glass.

S: Smells of slightly sweetened bready pale malts with some light citrus and pine notes. A dash of caramel.

T: Flavor has a bit more of that sweet caramel malt pronounced with a decent and moderate amount of bitterness there. I get a nice mixture of hoppy evergreens, tangerine/orange peel, and some light florals. Substantial malt breadiness throughout. Light alcohol kick in the end. Not a bad IPA by any means.

M: Feel starts off creamy with a medium sized body and nice drying in the finish that leaves a residual oily hop linger across the palate.

D: Decent drinkability on this one. A touch heavier on the caramel sweetness than I prefer in my IPA's but still has a solid hop dosing to counter. Would have preferred they scale back the Crystal malts here. Better options out there but nice to have tried.

Serving type: on-tap

05-15-2012 17:03:24 | More by Nugganooch

ehammond1

California

3.38/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On Tap

Blind Lady Ale House
San Diego, CA

Murky orange and nearly brown, at least in this lighting, with a moderately sized, tight off-white head that leaves lines of lacing down the glass.

Bready and sweet aroma, with some grapefruit and pine as well, along with a bit of alcohol presence.

The flavor is a combination of grapefruit and relatively high bitterness, along with lots of bread and sweet malt backbone. There's also a pretty strong alcohol sharpness that isn't at all welcoming. Overall, only average.

Medium bodied with ample carbonation.

Too malty, bready, and sweet for my liking, though I still think it was probably the best beer on tap that night, save for Racer 5.

Serving type: on-tap

02-05-2012 17:36:59 | More by ehammond1

BrewtifulMind

California

3.68/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at Rock & Brews, El Segundo

Pours a nice copper amber color with an inch of foamy off-white head. Good retention and lacing down the glass. Has a nice sweet scent on the nose, I'm detecting pineapple. Bitter hops up front, with a sweet malt finish with moderate carbonation. Overall a pretty decent representation of this style. I would have this again, but wouldn't seek it out.

Serving type: on-tap

09-15-2011 20:20:46 | More by BrewtifulMind

thagr81us

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had at the brewery in the company of womencantsail, t0rin0, and fbm115. Served from tap into a shaker. Poured a deep yellow orange with a minimal slight off-white head. Maintained decent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt and citrus hops. The flavor was of sweet malt, citrus, grapefruit, and citrus hops. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this brew was quite excellent. It had a very nice flavor and aroma going on here. However, the hop intensity in the aroma does not prepare you at all for the intensity of hops in the flavor. This one is a must try if you are in the area without doubt. I really enjoyed this one.

Serving type: on-tap

01-11-2011 16:34:39 | More by thagr81us

womencantsail

California

3.35/5  rDev -8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

On-tap at Cismontane

A: The beer pours a slightly clouded orange-yellow-amber color with a finger of white head.

S: Starts off with quite a bit of fruit to the nose. Lots of tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, and mango. Really like that combination of descriptors, but the bread and malt fills in the back end, unfortunately.

T: Grapefruit up front with quite a bit of lemon and orange peel. There's some mild breadiness and caramel, but a pretty sharp alcohol and perfume character that is fairly off-putting to me.

M: The body is medium with a moderate level of carbonation.

D: This one started off nice enough but it pretty quickly became too harsh for my liking.

Serving type: on-tap

01-11-2011 00:33:52 | More by womencantsail

Enish266

California

3.55/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at Encinitas Ale House.

Called their "Coulter IPA" (I believe this is the same beer).

Beautiful white head with nice retention and lacing. Amber-golden in color with a faint tangerine nose.

First taste is not your typical West Coast IPA. Mild bitterness with a creamy, malty backbone. Light citrus notes and a medium-dry finish. Very balanced and quite drinkable. Could have been a little more hop-forward but overall well done.

Serving type: on-tap

09-18-2010 07:27:02 | More by Enish266

IntriqKen

California

4.3/5  rDev +18.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Beautiful 1/2" off white head atop a clear, orange tea-colored brew. Head lasts as a good map all the way down the pint.
Aromas are lightly orange and tangerine hops with a hint of roasted malt.
First in the mouth is a creamy mouthfeel full of soft tangerine and grapefruit hops. Nice and mildly balanced with the roasted malt. Nothing overpowering. Nothing sticky or too sweet. Really a nice balance to the taste.
Aftertaste is a nice drying from the hops without any astringent bitterness.
Not a 'West Coast IPA'....more true to form with a wonderful balance.
Love it.

Serving type: on-tap

07-31-2010 21:35:20 | More by IntriqKen

SShelly

California

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On draft at eagle rock brewery.

Pours a moderate gold with nice large head, good retention with some lacing, crystal clear.

Aroma is moderatly hoppy with a slight malt background, very subtle and a little underwhelming.

Flavor is ok but a little bit of a mess, not to bitter, with malt in the mix, not very well defined flavors and in need of refinement.

I hope to be able to revist this beer in the future after the brewery has been around for a while, but for the moment probably wont be going back for a second.

Serving type: on-tap

07-03-2010 02:58:23 | More by SShelly

DoubleJ

California

3.58/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This IPA by Cismontane is unnamed at the moment. On-tap at the source itself, on to the beer:

Rusty copper colored thanks to the dregs of the keg. The head on tap had good retention, and it left a good amount of lacing on the glass. Not an explosive IPA in flavor like certain ones from San Diego, though certainly enjoyable. There are tasting notes of pine and grapefruit from the hops, and a little touch of malt. Mouthfeel is on the spot. Properly carbonated (unlike its pale ale sibling), good medium body feel.

The hops in here aren't huge like in other IPA's, so age will be a bigger problem with this IPA. But consumed at the source, age shouldn't be a problem. A solid brew by this new brewery.

Serving type: on-tap

05-01-2010 04:05:54 | More by DoubleJ

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

3.66/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

(had a bottle of this at City Beer Store, mid April - out of the umpteen tons of IPAs and other hop-forward beers they stock there, the gentleman behind the counter suggested this as one that stood out - perhaps he was right)

A: light, bright orange and cloudy as hell (hop and yeast sediment, I presume) - this could easily account for the messy, cottony head and its poor retention, forget the lace.... looks more like some sort of unfiltered fruit nectar

S: weak overall nose - wet cookie, bread-roll crust (rye?), grapefruit and orange, yeast dregs in modicum - nothing off-putting, just messy altogether

T: real juicy, grapefruit pulp and orange.... some malt pokes through, noticeably rye.... I suppose I'm getting pine sap, too (could be the label playing with my mind).... floral-flavored bitterness in the finish.... the alcohol is hidden real well - it's in that "magic" range of 6.5-7.5%

M: nearly thick but also somehow a tad watery, pulpy-nectar-juicy (sediment in effect)

O: this comes across like homebrew - "rustic"? - notable, but I wouldn't recommend it

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2013 17:41:39 | More by Bouleboubier

Brenden

Ohio

3.84/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A lovely-looking bright amber-copper in color, this IPA develops a neat, compact white head that sits strong on top for a good while. It leaves mostly patchy lacing well down to nearly the bottom of the glass.
There's a good balance of both sweet and bitter in the tropical and citrus fruits, showing some skin and rind as well as flesh. Pine also comes through to sit alongside the rest, and the balance boasted in the bottle is certainly present in the breads and caramel elements from malts. There's a touch of earthiness from something of a floral character. Bitterness, while not particularly high for an IPA, does linger well into the finish at the back of the throat. "Balance" doesn't mean bad for an IPA. Everything needs to be kept in check, and this beer does a good job of that.
Fairly fluffy in the mouth, this beer rides off an early and constant crispness into a nice smoothness supported by a medium body.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2013 16:40:51 | More by Brenden

DefenCorps

Oregon

3.43/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

The label warns me that thi IPA is well-balanced and on the fringe for the west coast style with subtle hopping. Oh dear.

Pouring a clear copper with a dense, white head with excellent retention and very nice lacing, this looks great. The nose lives up to the label. Pine, grapefruit (Cascades?) aroma hops with minimal bitterness, a moderately chalky character (Cascades?), a mildly bready rye character and a moderate sweetness. The palate has a blend of mild caramel sweetness, a rye spice, a mild hop bitterness that's got a little bit of pine and some grapefruit, and some hop flavor as well. Moderately sweet on the finish with a smooth, waxy character (from the rye?), this beer is medium in body, moderately carbonated and pleasant on the finish. Despite being in a style I don't care for, this is a reasonably well done IPA which I am quite liking more than I thought I would.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2013 07:07:19 | More by DefenCorps

ocelot2500

Arizona

3.08/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Pours a slightly hazy, sunburst orange with a frothy white head that leaves little bits of lacing.

Smells of faint citrus hops.

Tastes of a good wave of hops upfront with a decent malt backbone. Hops lead off with a little bit of citrus and some floral notes. Moderately bitter. Malts come in faintly on the backend with a little caramel sweetness.

Mouthfeel is medium with a slightly smooth amount of carbonation.

Overall this was just okay and doesn't really stand out to me.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2013 03:08:36 | More by ocelot2500

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.6/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Picked up a bottle at that bottle shop in San Clemente El Camino Real that doesn't put prices on their bottles of beer.

Poured out an amazingly beautiful orange glow. So many great ipas are this color, the head was a sturdy 1" with pretty good retention and decent lacing.

Aroma was not nearly as impressive. Has a soapy bitterness going for it, far from juicy hop vibe going on here. Its pretty underwhelming in the aroma department, falls squarely into the average category, but is actually less than average if you were to consider its aroma solely within the province of SoCal ipa if it were a style.

Taste, mostly all bitterness, minimal malt flavors, minimal hop flavors actually too, its just got this bitterness that dominates the entire flavor profile. At this point, I started to wonder if this was called Coulter IPA because of the Ann Coulter connection. . . hey its California, she's not real popular there, and I could see it rationalized like this: This beer is intentionally one dimensional, very bitter, without much substance, but it looks pretty from a far, but upon closer inspection, isn't so great.

Anyways, I found out by reading the back of the label that it is named after a tree in the area, so that's the end of that. Mouthfeel was bitter, as you get acclimated to the bitterness, you can actually start pulling taste and mouthfeel of the rye in it (I think) which would explain how it had better head retention.

Overall, it became a decent ipa, but not something I would pay almost $6 for a bottle for again.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2013 23:42:16 | More by Beerandraiderfan

seagullbeer

California

3.71/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.75

had it out of a bottle at a park. i think the fridge at the store was wonky cause my friends and my beers were all a bit flat...

tasted pretty good. solid crisp clean ipa. not too much going on but had a great piney flavor. had lots of sides of bitter not to malty. a solid ipa. sort of what i would expect from ipas always nice to have a brew thats clean and bitter without to much sweetness.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2013 05:08:17 | More by seagullbeer

OBeerMeGreatOne

California

4.23/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours out a nice, clear orange. The head and lace are very nice, about two inches of nice.

Great orange presence up front on the smell. Caramel and rye follow with hints of floral and pine hops.

Tons of orange and rye up front. Caramel smooths it out a bit. Grass and floral hops follow. Nice, unique taste. Goes down smooth with a medium body, a tad heavy on carbonation.

Great IPA. Interested in trying more from the brewery!

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 23:13:05 | More by OBeerMeGreatOne

largadeer

California

2.25/5  rDev -38.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

New brewery to the bay area. Grabbed a bottle on a whim. No freshness date, but it hasn't been on shelves more than 2 weeks.

Appearance: Medium-to-dark amber with a slight haze. Pours with a dense two finger head that retains nicely, leaving rings of lacing as it settles. Nice looking beer.

Smell: Sweet orange flesh, rye bread, a hint of pine. Moderate malt sweetness - has a bit of a candied orange quality to it. Nothing jumps out much - pretty underwhelming. As it warms, it begins to smell more like mediocre homebrew.

Taste & mouthfeel: Pine, orange flesh, and oxidation. Earthy rye, a little spiciness from the hops. The finish has a surprising amount of cardboard-like oxidation to it - not old bottle oxidation, more like something went wrong during brewing or packaging. Bitterness is reigned-in in a pleasant way, and the malt bill is nice too - I like the touch of rye and subtle sweetness.

Overall: If this didn't have pervasive off-flavors it would be a decent beer. As it stands, I can't recommend this and probably won't finish the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2013 06:44:23 | More by largadeer

Reagan1984

Massachusetts

2.14/5  rDev -41.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

A non BA buddy from the west coast sent this along in a recent box.

Aggressive (overly) head builds in the glass. Impressive retention on the head as it is almost like a whipped cream. Deep orange/amber in color.

Aroma has a hint of medicinal notes and smells like an early homebrew of mine. (that’s not a good thing) Some plastic.

Sadly the flavor follows the aroma here and seems to have some off flavors. Medicinal, black pepper and a strong bitter hop finish. Nothing particularly fresh about the hop flavors

Pin point carbonation and a bit prickly on the tongue.

Quite frankly, in the year 2013 this beer should not be on the market. Not even close.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 03:12:13 | More by Reagan1984

rudzud

Massachusetts

3.33/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Received as an extra in a trade and poured in to my Duvel tulip.

A - Pours a slightly hazy coppery orange hue with a one finger of white head that is somehow both fizzy and creamy. No real lacing and left a soapy mess of retention.

S - Unsure of the freshness here, probably not super fresh just as the main aroma here is light caramel and sweet malts. Getting super faint hops, mostly pine. No real citrus or tropics like someone else mentioned.

T - Taste is similar to the nose with just a bit more hops coming out. Almost bubblegum and faint older tropics. Still, mostly just sweet malts here. Unfortunate.

M - Mouthfeel is good for an IPA, nice bright carbonation here.

O - Overall, this is a fairly mediocre beer here. Perhaps fresh it would be something but as it stands this is yah...a few steps above "average".

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2013 04:23:42 | More by rudzud

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours yellow with lace sheets. Oddly little aroma in my Samuel Adams engineered glass. Medium mouth feel, a little numbing. Reasonable IBU of 65, and good drink ability. Piney hops, herbal mint character.More of an amber ale. Bottle courtesy Ron Brandt.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2012 13:59:16 | More by northyorksammy

popery

California

3.63/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours cloudy and amber brown. I tried to be gentle with the bottle, but the lees kicked up very easily. Subdued aroma. There's an odd yeasty note with some nice caramel malt and a floral/tropical hoppiness in the background. I'd prefer to see the hop aroma amped up. Some mineral flavor. Conversely, I quite like the taste. It's gentle and very pleasant. Nice honey-ish caramel malt flavor. Lots of hop flavor with more pine than the aroma. Still some not so great mineral flavor and that odd yeast note. Bitterness is a bit harsh. Mouthfeel is creamy. A little harsh on the finish. It's a pretty good beer. Nice to see a California brewer go for a more balanced IPA, but it's just not my preference, and the beer could use more aroma, regardless.

Serving type: bottle

11-13-2012 05:05:41 | More by popery

ngeunit1

California

4.23/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Pours a hazy golden-orange with a finger of frothy slightly off-white head. The head fades down at a fairly slow pace leaving behind some nice lacing.

S - Aroma is a mix of grapefruit, tropical, citrus, and pine hops with some sweet caramel and bready malts.

T - Starts off with grapefruit, tropical, and citrus hops with some bitterness and sweet caramel malts. Through the middle, some pine hops and some more resiny bitterness. The finish is a mix of grapefruit and pine hops with some sweet caramel and bready malts.

M - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a dry and bitter finish.

D - Very drinkable. Nice hop profile and bitterness throughout. Good hop and malt balance as well.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2012 04:48:42 | More by ngeunit1

elNopalero

Texas

3.18/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This poured an intense dark-amber with a golden hue, topped by big gloppy bubbles. It had a slight piney hop aroma with a light orange note around the edges.

The flavor has an upfront bitterness and a pronounced malt backbone. There’s a lot of pine and resin and it finishes dry, almost like a barleywine in its sweetness. More bittering hops than aromatic or flavor. Decent but nothing spectacular in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

07-16-2012 18:52:46 | More by elNopalero

DrFayhee

3.48/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Amber-golden color, medium head with minimal lacing.
S: A bit of funky soap and vinegar actually. Alcohol comes through too.
T: Dry hoppy flavors with some pine notes.
M: Medium carbonation and body. Dry finish.
O: A pretty solid IPA - maybe a little too heavy on the pine and not enough fruitiness.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 03:47:32 | More by DrFayhee