Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat

Hey, party people! It’s almost the end of August, I think. At this point, there are so many terrible things going on in the world, it would take too long to list. We have a president who is actively sabotaging the USPS, so citizens who want to mail in their ballots may not have their votes counted. Anyone who has been expecting packages the last few weeks has likely seen an uptick in arrival time. I had a package arrive nearly two weeks after expected. Now, my item was not crucial or time-sensitive, so I wasn’t too annoyed. People who may receive life-saving medication in the mail may feel differently. And speaking of elections, we have the DNC this week, and the RNC the next, albeit in a virtual capacity. The most disappointing part of the virtual conventions is the RNC not getting to parade around a barrage of washed-up 80’s celebrities. Sorry Chachi, maybe in another four years.

We have a coin shortage due to decreased circulation in money from businesses being closed. This really sucks if, like me, you rely on quarters to do laundry. LA is currently in the middle of a 100° heatwave. Oh, and Coronavirus continues to ravish the nation. For fucks sake, we had every opportunity to contain this damn virus. But due to a mentally ill president, a Congress who cares more about giving trillions of dollars to large business, and selfish fuck sticks who still refuse to wear a damn mask, we’re fucked.

No mail, no jobs, no hope for so many. This is why we drink.

Today’s offering is from Lost Coast Brewery, located in Eureka, CA. Eureka is in that area of Northern California that is all national forest until the Oregonian border. Judging solely from the pictures on Google, I definitely want to visit this gorgeous coastal city with tall ass redwood trees. Lost Coast is celebrating its sixth birthday today, happy birthday!

I will be celebrating a birthday this weekend, unfortunately, a few years older than six.

LC’s flagship beer is Great White, a Belgian white featuring a toothy great white shark holding a beer and surfboard. I like to say the king of the sea because sharks are fucking fantastic. The aesthetic on the site reads more as 80’s SoCal than NorCal. But as a fan of the ’80s, I dig it.

So Tangerine Wheat is the second beer I’ve sampled from Lost Coast Brewery. I was initially alerted to their presence from a 6 pack of watermelon ale, a definite favorite in my house. Unfortunately, I was a bit underwhelmed from the flavor. Golden Road and 21st Amendment still take the proverbial cake for best watermelon ale.

However, the other day I was looking for an alcoholic drink to quell my woes when I saw a bright orange hue out of the corner of my eye. The packaging for Tangerine Wheat is quite appealing, I must say, bright orange background with a tangerine headed (literally as you can see from the picture) humanoid. Since I’m a sucker for the weirder things in life, I had to give TW a shot, and boy am I glad I did.

From the first pour, I could tell this beer was going to be something special. Just look at that thick and creamy offwhite head, those meringue-like bubbles just scream lusciousness. The head survived for several minutes despite my apartment’s sweltering head too. I was entranced by the hazy amber hue. Between that and the meringue, it’s like an alcoholic tangerine pie. A decent number of bubbles hugged the keg shaped glass, reflecting the light like little twinkling lights.

I’d just like to make this clear, this beer is neither Radler nor Shandy. As most of my friends know, I’d sooner drink used bathwater than drink a juice beer. The only beverage I want mixed with lemonade is iced tea, shout to Arnold Palmer. But, and this is a hard but, I have zero qualms about a beer that smells like a shandy.

Intense aromas of bright tangerine, followed by sweet and flowery orange blossom. I did my super pretentious waft, of course, and picked up a hint of bready malt. I was picturing freshly baked white country loaf slathered in sparkling orange marmalade—a fortuitous start to the tasting experience I’d say.

As I sipped TW, I felt like my tongue was enrobed in thick, but not molasses-like, velvet. The carbonation hit on the stronger side, with bubbles sashaying on my tongue. Still, the sensation cut through the richness of the beer satisfyingly.

My initial impression was that of fragrant orange blossom. The bright taste of sweet tangerine was strong, but it was dulled with a slight bit of tanginess, so as not to be cloying. Worry not though, this is not a sour at all, it’s definitely a fruited wheat beer. To use a metaphor, this beer tastes of a summer morning, warm and sweet with a sparkle in the sky. Ah, but what have we here? The tangerine gives way to notes of bitter grapefruit rind. My mouth actually puckered a bit with the astringency.

I don’t often see wheat beers, especially fruited wheats, finishing with a dry bitterness, it was a pleasant surprise. All things considered, I was extremely pleased with how complex TW ended up tasting. We’ve got sweet, tangy, bitter, and bready all in one creepy can. Some beer snobs tend to write off wheats, or fruit beers as being for women or for beer noobs, but they are missing out on how delightfully intricate the tastes can be. Plus, this beer is 5.5%, so a few cans will give you that tasty reality-warping buzz we all so desperately need right now.

5 out of 5 Orange Groves