Mad River Steelhead Double IPA

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

Bottle... Poured a foggy, burnt orange with a white, frothy head. Bitter hop aroma, flavors of citrus fruits, earthy hops, and a mellow malt presence. Kind of timid for a double but still a tasty brew.

Bottle @ Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Pours a hazy orange color with a white head. Hoppy grapefruit aroma with some hints of pine. Sweet malty and very bitter hoppy and slightly harsh flavor with grapefruit hints. Malty bitter finish with a long bitter aftertaste.

Bottle: Orange/copper color with a white head. Aroma, pine, pale malts, some citrus. Flavor, pale malts, biscuity malts, pine and citrus, a little rough around the edges but a decent bitterness to it.

Rated 6/30/07. Amber color with a small off-white head and little lacing. Aroma is pine and citrus. Flavor is very malty, with toffee and biscuit, but also has alot of pine, citrus, and herbal hops. Balance seems to be off a little. Some good flavors in there, but they don’t meld together well. Decent IPA, but there is so much better.

Bottle purchased from the Davis Food Co-Op. Kind of an awkward sweet, sugary aroma with some floral notes. Mild piney, ethanolic aromas. Mild to moderate haziness in the amber-colored body. Medium off-white head. A little sugary and sweet to start. Becomes a little vinous and ethanolic in the middle. Some citrus hoppy flavors and bitterness to finish. There is a little bit of burnt flavoring towards the end as well. The flavors don’t really seem to jive too much in this.

Pours hazy orange small white head. Aroma of citrus hops and caramel malts. Flavor is Caramel malts pretty heavily, with the c-hops being very balanced. I like the fact that an 8.6% IPA can be so balanced between malts and hops and nothing is overpowering in any way and actually extremely easy to drink. Sorry for not a deeper description but its caramel malts and citrus hops all the way, very easy to drink, refreshing and I could see myself drinking a 6-pack of this around a fire. Great beer, thanks Mike for recommending it.

Aroma of hops and citrus. The aroma is not very strong. Pours a cloudy orange with an off-white head. Flavors of caramel malt, hops, citrus, and some grass. Not great for an IIPA, but for $7 a sixer it’s a deal.

Bottle from River’s Bend. Poured hazy copper color with a moderate white frothy head that lasted with good lacing. Moderate sour citrus hoppy aroma. Medium body with a slick texture. Medium balanced flavor with a medium bittersweet small alcohol bite finish of moderate duration. This is a solid beer.