Mad River Steelhead Double IPA

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Blue Lake, California USA

Hazy dark gold and orange body. Khaki head that sticks to the sides of the glass. The aroma is the classic straight up grapefruit with some toast. The taste has some light hints of grapefruit rind, but a lot more malt than I was expecting. This almost tastes like peanut butter toast followed up with some watered down grapefruit juice. A decent Double IPA, but a little boring.

Draught Reddish, very carbonated amber beer with just a B.C."H". Very flowery, lunaria , hoppy nose. Very bitter, metallic tang but still some grapey or flowery notes. Unripe strawberries. Slightly burning MF, obviously well-carbonated, at the edge of CO² acidity; alcoholwarming. Still a D. IPA, but IMO a slightly oblique interpretation.

Slightly hazy with no head. Very light hop aroma. Plenty of bitterness, but I expect more hop flavor in my double IPAs. Balanced well, and if you’re looking for alcohol and balance you’re in luck. Sub par.

A Mes rate: bottle at Tom’s Detailed Rating Notes Tasting.
I feel a little sorry for this beer. Not because there is anything wrong with it but because it had to follow a Cuvée de Tomme and a J & J Blauw so was never going to bowl me over. Darkish golden brown with a slim white head. Good fruity hoppage with loads of grassy notes. Lovely and citric. Quite mellow considering the abv. Not amazing but a decent enough IPA.

Seemed a bit toned down for an Imperial but a good beer nonetheless. Pours a murky copper color with a moderate sized head and some spotty lacing. Grapefruit hoppy aroma with some peach or nectar in there. Not necessarily a strong aroma for the style. The flavor starts off somewhat sweet and citrusy leading to a long gradual bitter grapefruit hoppy taste. Slightly dry and bitter finish. Smooth and doesn’t really bite hard for a DIPA but it’s a good beer. 8.5% abv is masked. Solid price point and I’d have no problem getting this again.

3-18-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to Padrefan98!
Big thick dense orange red with very thick creamy head. Nice hoppy bitter smell - a bit subtle and metallic up front. It has that distinctive alcohol hops IIPA flavor. Palate is thick and creamy. A hint boozy overall. Heavy, but still good. Drinkable and it has a very nice mouthfeel.

Honey orange color. Nice lacing. Aroma is just full of hops. Taste hoppy mallty goodness. Large amt of sediment.

Bottled. Poured slightly hazy medium golden with a well-retained, sticky cap of white head. The aroma picked up juicy grapefruit and pine resin over lighter fruit and pale malty sweetness. The flavor had building alcohol-fueled pine bitterness as it progressed, with grapefruit and pale malts at the core.. rather rough and resiny on the back-end with too much booze present.. sweet, grainy, and stong pine finish. Medium-plus bodied and strong on the palate with only decent balance.