Mad River Jamaica Red Ale

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Blue Lake, California USA

I discovered this red gem almost 12 years ago and it’s still my #1 beer.

Re-rate: MUch better this time around. Nice frothy head and sweet orange aroma detected. Very tasty brew. Original - I believe I do not have the freshest of samples- however, it still tastes mighty good. The aroma was non-existent, as was the head. However, I liked the cloudy, reddish amber apperance. Nice malty flavor well balanced with PNW hops. A tasty treat - a fresh one I will find.

This beer is unfiltered and a nice brown color. My wife thought I was drinking ice tea (what a great disguise!). I like carmel and this beer has a carmel taste to it. Overall this is one of my favorite Ales.

American "Red" or Amber Ale is a style with a pretty broad spectrum. I’ve had some tremdous examples over the years, and my fair share of duds as well. One of my all time favorite examples of this style is Mad River Jamacian Red. This beer delivers on what an American Amber(Red) Ale should really be all about. Lots of vibrant hop aromas, flavors, and bitterness, paired with lots of good sweet and stewed malt character. Jamacian Red pours to a beautiful, deep amber to red color with a thick and creamy white head, and a moderate carbonation. The nose on fantastic on this beer with lots of good citrus and piney hop aromas paired with some good malt sweetness and some estery fruit aroma. The palate is soft and full with lots of good biscuit and caramel malt flavors, paired with nice touches of tangy fruit flavor. Jamacian Red finishes with more good malt and fruit up front, then ends with a tangy, and pleasing citric hop bitterness that lingers. This is a great drinking beer, and a very food friendly dish as well. Jerk chicken or curryed goat anyone? Very well done Mad River!

A great caramel aroma. Flavor is sweet caramel malt. A good balance of hops and malts with a smooth finish. A great amber.

Sampled at Empire Brewfest. Slightly citrus aroma with maltiness noted. Chocolate hints. A nice balanced aroma. Hazy amber color with a light yellow head. Sweet, malty, hints of smoke, nice light hops to finish. This is very good and easy drinking. Probably the beer I enjoyed most from the festival.

I grabbed this beer first figuring it would be the crappy one of the bunch. Proving once again that the look of a bottle can be deceiving. This beer is really damn good - this is one I could see myself drinking on a regular basis.

The aroma is full of bread, has a rounded fruitiness, and is loaded with crystal malt. The appearance supplies a dark tan head atop a deep red and murky liquid. The first sip was quite acetic alongside medium-full carbo. Nuts, bitter hops, chocolate, and truckloads of caramel are quite apparent. The finish provides for a fair dryness. This bottle is slightly oxidized and doesn’t resemble what it did in the past. Still, the inventiveness that went into this beer is amazing to my palate. It also achieves an unsurpassed complexity amongst any other American amber ale.