Going Coco Loco Down in Erm Barrow Hill… the title alone doesn’t quite behave like a sensible beer review. It reads more like a fever dream, or the name of a pub crawl that got slightly out of hand somewhere between a railway museum and a late-night decision.
And in a way, that is exactly where this beer belongs.
Set against the industrial nostalgia of Barrow Hill Roundhouse during Rail Ale trade night, this is not a controlled tasting environment. This is exhaustion, cask ale, railway heritage, and the quiet, slightly chaotic pursuit of 'something dark and comforting' after a long shift at work.
Into this setting steps Coco Loco.
From Grafton Brewing.
The Setting: Rail Ale and Worn-In Glassware
Barrow Hill Roundhouse is the kind of place that already feels halfway between history and theatre. Trains, steel, echoing architecture, and then, suddenly, casks of ale lined up like competing narratives.
After a long shift, the intention is simple, find 'dark oblivion' in a pint. Something rich, malty, familiar.
Coco Loco appears to promise exactly that. The name suggests chocolate, roasted malt, perhaps even stout-like depth. Something traditional. Something safe.
It is not safe.
First Impressions: Dark, Warm, and Slightly Unruly
Visually, Coco Loco presents as a dark and inviting ale. There is a looseness to it, though, poured straight from the cask, the head barely holds, and the temperature sits slightly higher than ideal. But this is festival drinking: imperfect glassware, worn systems, human pace.
None of this feels like a flaw. It feels like context.
The beer is already resisting the idea of precision.
The First Sip: Expectation Collapses Into Coconut
Then comes the first sip.
And with it, a sudden, unmistakable hit of coconut.
Not subtle. Not suggestive. Not 'hints of tropical undertones.'
This is coconut stepping forward and taking control of the entire room.
The effect is disorienting at first, like expecting a traditional stout and instead finding something closer to a liquid confection. There is even a fleeting comparison to Malibu, but immediately corrected by experience: this is not a novelty drink. It is something stranger and more intentional.
It is sweet, yes, but also structured.
The Flavour Profile: Sweetness, Vanilla, and Controlled Chaos
There is even a flicker of citrus, lemon brightness cutting through the sweetness just enough to keep it from collapsing into excess.
Beneath all of this, malt begins to reassert itself. Not in a heavy roasted way, but as a grounding presence. A reminder that this is still beer, still fermentation, still structure beneath the flavour spectacle.
The mouthfeel is unexpectedly full and silky, giving weight to what could otherwise have been a novelty profile.
The Brewery Context: Expectation and Memory
Grafton Brewing is no stranger to dividing opinion. For returning drinkers, there is already a sense of history, of previous encounters and remembered extremes. This is a brewery associated with bold ideas and uneven execution, with beers that tend to provoke reaction rather than indifference.
Coco Loco sits firmly in that tradition.
It feels like a beer designed not to quietly please, but to actively do something to the drinker.
Not for Everyone: And That’s the Point
This is not an ale built for consensus.
The sweetness is pronounced. The coconut is dominant. The vanilla is generous. There is cola, there is lemon, there is malt, but everything is arranged in a way that prioritises impact over subtlety.
Some will find it overwhelming. Others will find it unforgettable.
It occupies that rare category of beer that refuses neutrality.
Recognition and Festival Success
Despite its divisive profile, Coco Loco has clearly found its audience.
At the 2013 Doncaster CAMRA Beer Festival, it was awarded Best Speciality Beer. That same year, at the South Notts Beer Festival, it took Best Beer Overall.
These are not accidental accolades. They suggest a beer that, while unconventional, connects strongly with judges and drinkers willing to engage with something outside traditional stylistic boundaries.
Final Thoughts
Coco Loco is not a quiet beer. It does not aim for balance in the conventional sense, nor does it try to blend into the background of a festival line-up.
Instead, it arrives like a statement, coconut-forward, sweet-leaning, slightly chaotic, but underpinned by enough malt structure to keep it coherent.
In the right moment, it feels almost cinematic: a tired drinker, a railway roundhouse, and a pint that refuses to behave like anything expected.
From Grafton Brewing, it is another reminder that some beers are not designed to be universally loved.
They are designed to be remembered.
Comments