Mad River Steelhead Double IPA

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

Pours a cloudy orange caramel color with a medium white head. nice lacing. Aroma of orange citrus, caramel malts and faint floral pine. Taste is caramel malty with hints of faint floral,piney and citrus undertones. Not bad. Nice looking label.

Pours with a reddish-orange body topped by athin head with some lacing. It’s nice and hoppy with a nice grapefruit/citrus note, a slight piney undertone, some grassy notes, and a touch of malt showing through. Medium to full bodied, slightly dry and a little warming.

The aroma is a little weak for an IIPA but it has the right citrus and pine hops. It also has lots of sweet malt and a lot of alcohol for an 8.6%. The appearance is dark amber with a small head. The flavor is hoppy and sweet but it also has cardboard. The palate is thick with a long bitter aftertaste. Overall a little bit of a disappointment. Even though it’s a solid beer it’s not the best IIPA.

12 oz bottle thanks to padrefan98. This one poured a rather cloudy/hazy orangey/amber with a small white head. Aroma is hoppy with grapefruit citrus dominating and a sweet caramel malt essence. Flavor is almost harshly bitter with noticeable alcohol and a long lingering astringent finish. Mouthfeel is thick, real thick like syrup. Not sure about this one, try it if you love DIPA if not you might want to hold out for something else.

Fair Double India Pale Ale Pours a tad darkish copper amber [a little dark for me] Nice head that dwindles to a thin ring in the glass Very malty aroma, not much hop action, maybe just a tad. Fairly good balance, it is a DIPA after all, and while some dipa’s are sweeter than bitter, this is less sweeter than bitter. Not the best aftertaste I’ve ever had, but this could be somewhat oxidized. {probably need to try a fresher one some day} I suppose I’ll never meet a DIPA couldn’t enjoy, but this is probably toward the lower end. Yeah, I’d like to try this again.

Bottle, Thanks Tronraner! Pours a cloudy orange with a nice, tall white head that fades away eventually. I can see a little bit of yeast in the bottom, just a few specks. The nose is heavy on the grapefruit and big, bold pine resin. I’m a sucker for that drying, piny character in IIPA’s. I really don’t get a lot of malt in the way of the aroma, it’s all about the spicy, dry hops. The bitterness is right on for the style, it’s dry and biting, yet clean and enjoyable. Lots of marijuana notes and pine, it’s very grassy and sharp, but again, clean. The sweetness here is not syrupy at all, just present enough to add balance and a respectable density on the palate. Man, I’m really digging the finish on this one. It’s zesty, dry and savory with lots of lemons. Hm, some nice green tea flavors too. So Mad River’s IIPA is not as huge as some, especially not for California. But it is has some unique qualities that I really enjoy. I agree that if this one was a bit bigger it’d be even better, but as it is, it made a fine impression on me. Well done!
[August 24,2008]
Bottle. Pours a very cloudy orange with a tall, firm white head which was perhaps enhanced by the tulip glass. The nose is rich and hoppy, but not extreme for the style. I suppose I could use more hop presence (like always) but the actual notes I find very pleasing. It leans towards pine and dry lemon with just a dash of citrus and fair malts. The hops come out more in the flavor and again, this is very tasteful for the style, but certainly aggressive by the measure of most any other style. Really nice middle of the road melon and caramel sweetness provide an accessible backdrop for the drying, zesty, herbal bitterness. All in all, it’s a solid, very well crafted IIPA with adequate bitterness to get the job done.

Pours hazy orange and mustardy yellow - looks like cider - with a moderate white foamy head. Aroma is big and hoppy: mostly gooey, resiny pine with some notes of citrus fruit. Not much in the way of malt in the nose. Medium bodied and bitter with grainy malts. Flavor is pretty much still hops throughout. High bitterness but without too much acidity. As IIPAs go, I like this one quite a bit. I knew before I looked that RB folks wouldn’t agree. There are definite departures from the "standard" IIPA, but I appreciate these. One is the malt profile quite a bit less caramel-y and more grainy. The hop profile doesn’t feature a prominent lemon, and the alcohol is not even 10%. God knows there are enough cookie-cutter IIPAs coming out, and I congratulate Mad River for a little originality.

Dull amber hazy pour, no head. Aroma - Grassy, nutty caramel, resinous. Thick, syrup like body. Alcoholic finish. Very sharp bitterness. Taste nothing like any other double ipa i’ve had, something is wrong.