Mad River Jamaica Sunset IPA

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Blue Lake, California USA

Bottle from Chevy Chase Liquors in DC ( I think). Pours a murky amber orange with a dissapating white head. Faint aroma of floral hops, grapefruit, and raw bread dough. Very british like texture, on the thin side but not watery. The bitterness really dominates here. Initial flavor of grapefruit that transitions to a spicy hop bite. Acidic and slightly puckering finish. More grapefruit lingers on the palatee, along with some pine. This was decent, but nothing I would seek out again.

Bottle from the wife. Pours turbid copper with off-white head. Aroma of spicy hops, bready malt, spicy florals. Tastes a bit like an IPA/saison hybrid, with a lot of spicy notes mixed with the bready malt and hops. Crisp finish.

This IPA was somehow missed the mark. The cloudy copper color with smallish head was not impressive. The aroma was of grapefruit and pine nuts. The ale did have a hop finish but a weak one. This is my first Jamaica Brand product. I rescored this IPA.. I had another on 2/6/09 at the Innsbrook Capital Ale House. It was much better than I remember the first. It still fell short of others. The alcohol is a perfect level to fully enjoy the floral hops.

Bottle poured, just after a poorly rated Alleycat ale. Decent head good flavor, nice aroma. Though nothing Jamacian about it, mon. No erie. But much beteran the Alleycat.

Aroma of pine and citrus, but not really strong. Hazy apricot color. No head worth mentioning. Starts with complexity, but settles out with some initial malt, followed by some hops - really some hops. The mouthfeel is quite substantial. For some strange reason there is a lot of hop bitterness, but the hop aroma to match it is just not there. It ends up a bit flattish. Maybe the issue is that it is half way to a double IPA. It is. Really. One of the fifty ales I’d take to that desert island.

None of the reviews I read mention the extremely strong tea note but that is what makes this unique. If you like citrus tea you may really enjoy this. Iwish it had more hops and dryness but this exotic is nice change of pace. Only downer was the white chalky residue at the bottom of my bottle. 6.9%-- no wonder I was light headed.

(Golden-reddish hue? Don’t gold and red make orange??? Maybe my color palate is different from theirs...lol... Seriously though...) Floral and doughy notes to the nose... Pours hazy amber-orange with a HUGE head that leaves thick lacing down the glass. The flavors are of candied (processed) citrus and grapefruit... either that, or there’s a bit more lemon than I would’ve expected, and it took me off guard at first. This overpowers any real "malt" support that should be present. The bitters don’t really match up to the rest of the brew. The mouthfeel is accordingly round enough, I guess, but the unilateral hop back (and lack of traditional pine.... I know, I know, they are making their "own style") makes for an unbalanced pull. Sorry, just not a stand-out IPA, no matter how unique.

(12oz bottle) Particulate-filled apple cider body with small off-white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, floral/orange, caramel, some grapefruit. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit, caramel/bread, some floral, dusky. Pretty solid bite. Medium body, some chewiness.