Beach Haus Winter Rental
Back in April, earlier this year, I had the opportunity to sample East Coast Beer Company’s Beach Haus. I described the beer as having a singular purpose in life — to be enjoyed at the beach in the heat of a glorious Summer day.
Well, now that the weather has gotten significantly colder the brewery set about brewing a beer that would be just as enjoyable and drinkable but more suited to colder temperatures and shorter days. Beach Haus Winter Rental is based off of the Schwarzbier style and weighs in at 5.6% ABV. This brew isn’t as single minded as it’s warmer weather counterpart. It’s brewed with eight varieties of malt (including Dark Munich and Chocolate), as well as a blend of American hops including Mount Hood and Magnum varieties. It’s also beer that I could enjoy any time of year due to it’s lean, easily approchable flavors.
Appearance
Winter Rental pours a dark, ruby brown with a light tan head that fell gently to patchy surface lace.
Aroma
The nose isn’t overly powerful, but I did pick up a decent roasted malt backbone with hints of bread and caramel.
Taste
The roasted malt is right there from the start as hints of chocolate and caramel come in before fading to a moderately hopped finish that lingers nicely. It’s not as sweet as many schwarzbiers I’ve had and I appreciate that aspect of the beer. There’s an earthy character that I also particular enjoy. As the beer warms the hops bring about a touch of pine, as well.
Overall
I liked this beer. It’s not pushing the boundaries of any of it’s individual characteristics, sitting quite comfortably in the middle of the road. It’s flavors are quite approachable which makes for an easy drinking and refreshing brew that is a nice compliment to the other product that the company has in their portfolio.
Rating: 3.75/5
This is a review of a promotional sample received from a PR company.