A wheelhouse is the enclosed part of a ship where the wheel sits, and Coastal Mass. Brewing has put exactly that on the can: a ship's wheel and a tangle of rigging, seen from the deck. The beer inside is back for another run.
Wheelhouse is a New England pale ale at 6 percent, brewed with Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado. The brewery lists notes of peach, orange and pineapple.
Three hops, three notes, and they sort themselves out almost too tidily. El Dorado is the one most associated with stone fruit and a distinct candied pineapple character. Citra is named for what it does, pushing orange and grapefruit citrus. Mosaic sits underneath both of them with tropical fruit and a berry edge that fills in whatever the other two leave open. Whether the brewery built the bill that way on purpose or simply listed what came out the other end, the mapping is clean enough to be worth pointing at.
The choice of style is the quieter decision here. That hop trio turns up constantly in hazy IPAs well north of 6.5 percent, and Coastal Mass. is running it as a pale ale instead. The aromatics stay; the weight does not.
Wheelhouse joins a lineup that leans hard into the brewery's coastal namesake, alongside Tail Fin, Turn of the Tides and Twisted Coast. It is pouring at the Beverly taproom this week.
Source & Editorial
JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.