#30SecondBeerReview · #FPLBeerClub
Coastal Crush
California Coast Beer Company — Paso Robles, CA
Fruited Blonde Ale
California Coast Beer Company
5.2%
ABV
15
IBU
Straw yellow
Color
Contributing Factors
Presentation
✓
Character
✓
Experience
✓
Return
✓
4 / 4
I'd order another
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Pale golden, likely with a soft haze from the wheat and Carapils additions. A lasting white foam head — the Carapils doing its structural job. Looks bright and tropical before the aroma confirms it.
Aroma
Pink guava leads — smooth, juicy, and vivid. Passion fruit comes in right behind it with its characteristic lively tartness. Citra's citrus zest and Motueka's lime character sit above both, bright and supporting rather than competing. The soft biscuity malt from the pale malt and Vienna provides a warm, clean backdrop. This smells like a California afternoon outdoors.
Palate
Light-medium body, smooth and rounded from the wheat and Carapils. The pink guava sweetness carries through the middle in full expression, the passion fruit's tartness keeping it crisp and refreshing rather than cloying. The Citra and Motueka hop character is subtle — lime and citrus zest adding dimension without asserting themselves over the fruit. Fifteen IBU keeping the finish clean and completely approachable.
Finish
Crisp, refreshing, and lightly tart — the brewer's own exact descriptors, and accurate. The passion fruit tartness fades with the Motueka lime zest, leaving a tropical, clean close. Short and completely refreshing — makes the next sip on a warm Paso Robles afternoon completely automatic.
The Verdict
Cal Coast built a tropical blonde that earns every word of its own description — pink guava sweetness, passion fruit tartness, Citra and Motueka lifting the whole thing into bright California sunshine. Warm afternoons, beach days, and the California Coast. Cheers.
— Stephen · Contributing Factor Brewing · 30 Sep 2026
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