Life is too short to drink bad beer - StFeuillien Belgian Coast IPA

StFeuillien

Belgian Coast IPA

My best guess is that this beer (or very similar) was previously brewed by a collaboration between St.Feuillien and American brewery Green Flash. My feeling is that at some point Belgians have decided that they can IPA themselves. So, they did it…wrong.

This time it is important to start from the content. Belgian Coast IPA was hopped with: Brewer’s Gold, Magnum, Fuggles, Nortern Brewer, Mosaic, Citra and Cascade.

Yes, 7 various types of hops!

On top, it was apparently dry hopped (even if it is not clear which hops were used when).  

I will try to start from the positive side – finally a bitter Belgian beer from one of the traditional breweries. A proof that even Belgian Brewing is not able to fully kill a combined power of 7 hops.

So much on the positive side. Rest is rather poor – Belgian Coast is very poor in aroma and taste. If fact, I am surprised that you can completely kill all the aromas coming from American hops. Congratulations to StFeuillien’s brewers. It is an achievement. Respect.

Btw. It is not impossible to try a good American hops aroma in the Belgian classic. Just go for Duvel Triple Hop series.

With all that said – we are coming to a cardinal crime of the Belgian Coast IPA. And whoever had this idea should be ashamed till the end of this person’s life.

They have put it in GREEN bottles.

For some precision – most of the hop-related bitterness comes from the alpha amino acids. This is proven that they are sensitive to light. The effects of UV on green bottled beers are professionally described as “light-struck”. Less friendly depicted as a SKUNK. It the “pleasant” aroma that you get when you open Beck’s beer. 

Now imagine: if UV can do the skunk in the rather light hopped Pils, what happens if you UV a heavy hopped IPA?

Within an hour from opening Belgian Coast in my garden I was visited by military, police and a local health agency. Apparently, neighbors claimed that I am producing chemical weapons here. That said, next neighbor lives at least 20 meters apart.

I strongly believe that green bottles are partially responsible for the lack of aromas. They probably just screwed the hops.

This or that way, at least the bottled version of the Belgian Coast is bad beer and you should stay away from it.