Mad River Steelhead Double IPA

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

12 oz bottle. Pours a hazy orange with slight off white cap. Citrus hop aroma. Prominent citrus hop flavour with a hint of caramel malt. Long bitter finish. Solid.

Nice looking pour. Caramel brown with a gold orange head. Some sediment chunks slowly fall. Very active carbonation and droopy lacing. Aroma is quite musty and a bit floral. A big bold sweet hop flavor jumps out at first sip. It is peppery, sugary, and citrusy. It also boasts a big level of bitterness. Feel is oily with good substance. The only drawback to this beer is the musty aroma, which is not particularly pleasant, feeds into the flavor. That ABV listing is not exaggerated although it is not really tasted.

Single bottle purchased at Friendly Mini Mart in Lakewood. Pour is a glowing hazy orange, and I mean hazy, there are little flecks of white floating through this brew. Aroma is a normal hops but with a hint of tangerine. The flavor is very nice, good orange fruity flavor with a rather green leafy finish. Good stuff. I could definitely drink more of this, it goes down with considerable lasting flavor and doesn’t hurt from the bitterness or ABV.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle. Hazy golden amber with medium off white head. Nose of citrus and hops, with a bit of an oily taste which left an aftertaste that was a little odd. Overall an average beer.

From bottle. Pours an opaque chestnut color with a nice firm 15mm of creamy head. Aroma citrus, pines, with a touch of alcohol astringency. Tastes bitter from hops. The hops come though more in the taste than the aroma. However, they are still there in the aroma! Smells 8-9%alc but tastes around 7, for me. Still, don’t care too much for the way the alcohol taste catches the tongue. It intereferes with the overall flavor, rather than complimenting it. Would like to try a dry hopped version of this. Perhaps less malts could lower the alcohol content and make it a bit crisper? Still, not too bad a DIPA, though tastes almost IPA-ish (ignoring the alcohol taste) but I’d prefer less acidic alchohol taste. I’ve had better DIPAs.

12oz bottle. Not sure how long it’s been on the shelf, but taking the chance. Had their extra stout and it was exquisite, so this is worth the $2.19 risk. Pours a cloudy orange/copper color with a big off-white head. Citrusy hop aroma with lots of malt. Crisp and grapefruity hop flavor with a bready malt balance and a bitter citrusy hop finish. If it’s old, I can’t tell. Great DIPA.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Norms, Fall ’08

Overall Impression: Very solid DIPA. Nothing stood out about it, but it was highly drinkable.

Bottles and served in a pint glass: Hazy coppery hue with a nice tight creamy head with left okay lace, some floaties however. The aroma has notes of mild resiny and citric hops, a touch herbal as well along with a hint of caramel and bready malts, a some pepper. The taste is actually pretty balanced but the hops still shine. Moderate hop spice and a hint of metallic notes upon the finish. The mouth feel is smooth and has a pretty nice body for the style. Honestly this is much more approachable for the average beer fan than it would appeal to a hophead. That said it is quite drinkable and there is noting wrong with that.