I found Coronado Brewing Co.'s Islander IPA at Costco for $3.49 for a 22 oz bottle. Coronado is a resort city in San Diego County across the bay from downtown San Diego. Coronado Brewing started in 1996 shortly before the craft beer scene started to explode. You can find Coronado Brewing Co.'s beers in: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. The mermaid logo traces its roots back to the local San Diego legend about mermaids singing beautiful songs to attract sailors away from the jagged rocks of Point Loma and into the calm waters of San Diego Bay.
As you can see, this light golden beer pours with a bit of head, but that goes down after a couple minutes and then leaves quite a bit of lacing on the glass. It has a strong floral hoppy smell. This beer has a medium body, quite a bit of bite, and leaves a long bitter aftertaste. The bitterness overwhelms the Munich malts. It is brewed with Cascade, Chinook, and Columbus hops, which give it that bitter bite with flavors of pine and citrus fruitiness.
It registers at 7.0% ABV and 70 IBUs. Since Islander IPA has a prominent presence on your pallet, like many IPAs it will pair well with spicy food, burgers, and steaks. I personally go through phases where I switch between styles of beer that I prefer. Hoppy beers aren't for everyone. On the spectrum of IPAs from barely hoppy (and shouldn't be called an IPA) to extremely hoppy/bitter this is more on the hoppy/bitter side. For anyone who likes hoppy beers or is looking for a good beer as spring starts to turn into summer Islander IPA is definitely worth a try.
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