Mad River The Mad Belgian

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: Belgian Ale
Blue Lake, California USA

Thanks Hayduke! This beer pours tan with some orange color. Good retention and a thick sticky lacing. Head is also orange tinted and quite large. An aroma of yeast and sweet citrus fruit. A bit floral, too. Flavor is grass, toffee, citrus, and bread. Hops are pleasantly complex as are the malts. Flavors, and styles even, come and go here with amazing frequency. Very interesting to drink.

Bottle at brother tuckers! Gold pour. Very malty aroma with some honey. flavor is malty, bread, yeast and honey. Not bad, not amazing.

The aroma is not bad it’s got malt, yeast, and grassy hops. The appearance is hazy amber with a tall foamy head. The flavor is like the aroma with a bitter, bread finish. The palate is a bit thin. Overall this is not a bad beer but it’s not much of a Belgian ale.

Bottle. Poured honey gold with thick white head. Full malty aroma with a certain funkiness I found appealing. Malty flavour, with bread and white pepperiness. Lingering lekker finish. Wll worth the price.

12 oz. Clear burnt orange with an inch of lasting creamy foam. Aroma is spicy pear, mango and toasted grain. Flavor is the same mix, plus toasted nutshell, bread, resin and peppery citrus zest. Medium body is smoothly carbonated and finishes dry with resiny wood.

Bottle from Tylers. Orange golden with a small white head. Nose is earthy, with a slight Belgian accent. Slightly spicy, mildly hoppy, earthy flavor. A tad watery on the palate but overall an easy drinker. Pretty good.

12oz bottle from Carrboro Beverage. Pale orange pour with lively looking body and a fluffy head. Dry yeast initially dominates the nose, but there’s an indistinct fruitiness that emerges pretty quickly. Mouthfeel is average. And the flavor isn’t quite dry enough to be a blonde, but the fruits and spices don’t cohere enough to be anything more than generically "Belgian."

Clear copper pour with a thick white head. Sweet malt, earthy hops and candy sugar aroma. Smooth malt, slightly sweet with a hint of earthy bitterness. Nicely balanced and easy drinking.