Tasting — Austin Blonde (Coffee Pale Ale)

austin_blonde_coffee_pale_ale

Appearance:
Red, crazy-eye red. Vienna malt versus 2-row comes out darker. I’ve seen some discussion that the coffee beans make also darken the color as well. This doesn’t look pale at all. But it’s certainly not a Stout.

Aroma:
Massive coffee nose, with chocolate and vanilla. Sweet malts. No hops at all despite the huge hopping.

Taste:
All coffee, and chocolate flavor. Good hop bite but no citrus despite the hop bill.

Mouthfeel:
Thick mouthfeel, chewy even. Strong body. Caffeine and alcohol hit hard. It’s a bit hard to drink a full pint without feeling like you’ve taken three shots of espresso

Overall:
Really impressed with this beer. I’d brew this again, with all 2-row or pilsner to really lighten up the color. I think I’d drop the “flavored” coffee and just got with some of my favorite local beans. I dry-hopped with coffee for 48 hours, next, I’d probably go 36 instead. And also dry-hop with some hops to bring some more hop aromatics back.

2 thoughts on “Tasting — Austin Blonde (Coffee Pale Ale)

  1. The color on that is awesome. When adding the coffee, did you throw crushed beans in a hop sack to “dry-hop” before packaging?

    • I used a 1 gallon paint strainer bag (nylon). I used 3 oz of whole beans, leaving them in the beer for about 48 hours.

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