Mad River Steelhead Double IPA

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

12-oz bottle received via trade with mgumby10. Pours hazy harvest orange with a small, frothy, white head, somewhat lasting with spare lacing. Aroma is average malt (bread, cookie, lightly toasted grain), heavy hops (pine, flowers, grass, citrus), average yeast (dough, sweat) with notes of apple, pear, and butter. Medium bodied, slick texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.

Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry and Blankboy, Blankboy’s bottle. I was promised DIPA’s at this mini-tasting and here is one! Spicy fruity malt aroma - very sweet. Golden orange, small white head. Good taste - lots of hops, lots of malt. Straightforward good DIPA, maybe a tad thin and a little watery. Minor complaints, simple good stuff.

Had on tap at City Beer in SF. Very strong smell of wood and hops! Taste was very earthy, with some oranges and grapefruits. Hoppy finish. Not a huge fan of IPA’s, but this one was okay.

Opaque amber with a wisp of a head. Light caramel malt, pine and citrus hop aroma. Fruity hop flavor, rather tropical with some passion fruit. Bitter and clean.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy and tupalev, blankboy’s bottle. Cloudy amber, small frothy off-white head. Sweet, light, dry mild citrus-dry resin hop aroma. Taste - same, dry, sweet in the finish, really floral - hardly any alcohol character at all - light, but good. Average body, dry, sweet, crisp, light carbonation and a relatively quick finish, but tasty. Liked it well enough, not amazing though.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy deep orange with lots of particles. Off white, foamy head with little lacing. Nose is somewhat muted grapefruit and other citrus notes. Tastes of lemon peel, grapefruit, cinnamon. Fizzy mouthfeel, with a little spice on the finish. Very drinkable and kind of delicate for a 2IPA.

Cloudy, golden amber body; thin white head. Aroma of peppery hops. Flavor is full of citrusy, piney hops with a huge, sticky sweet maltiness. Mouthfeel is syrupy and rich. This is what a big beer should be; rich, complex and flavorful without being too loaded in any one department. Good stuff!

Bottle. Pours very cloudy orange, short off-white head. Lots of brown sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Very citrus, with some pine smell. Solid malt coming through in the nose as well. The taste is citrus hops with lots of full malt character to back it up. Pretty subdued bite at the back end. Doesn’t taste like it is hopped as much as a typical double IPA. The dry hopping is there, this has a nice big nose, but it doesn’t come through on the bittering end. Mouthfeel is a little light for the style but still on the thicker end of the spectrum. This is a good beer but it doesn’t deliver as a *BIG* beer.