Mad River The Mad Belgian

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

Pours a slightly hazy copper bronze with a thin, wispy-lacing white head. Aroma of toasty pale caramel malts and lighty biscuity notes with some oxidized toffee and lemon fruitiness. Starts with decent fullness and a soft biscuity malty flavor with some light coriander and orange zest tartness before a semi-dry smooth bittersweet finish. Could use a little more sweetness and complexity, but an ok Belgian ale.

Bottle from Kingdom Liquors. Poured a clear copper color with an average frothy white head that mostly diminished with fair lacing. Moderate tart citrus and yeast aroma. Medium bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. This beer met my expectations.

Funny that I am the third rater as I bought the bottles in Omaha. Light copper orange colored body with a yellowish khaki head. The aroma is largely candi sugar with some notes of funk and mango goodness. I can’t tell whether the fruit smell is from the yeast or from the hops, but it is nice. The taste is very funky at first and has a strong, almost brett like finish. There is also some wood and orange peels mixed in with brown sugar. A sweet and funky brew that would be interesting to try aged. Another solid brew from Mad River, but not great.

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

Draft. Amber beer with an off-white head. Yeasty aroma. Malt and yeast flavor with light fruitiness. Medium bodied. Malt, yeast, and light esters linger.

It poured a perfect clear copper with over-sized bubbles in a tan head. The aroma has fruity notes abound with apples, pears and prunes to go along with a growing coriander like spice note and some yeastiness. The taste is sweet with lots of fruity esters and spice like coriander covered apples, apricots and prunes. It moves in the direction of being peppery but not really making it all the way there. Overall it seems a bit disjointed and may come together some with more age.

Aromas of honey, bread, grain, earth, and a subtle yeast character. Pours golden amber with some haze, not much in the way of head. Bread, honey, light fruity notes, and some yeasty esters are followed by a soft earthy bitterness in the finish. Easy to drink, subtle and not over done in the sweetness department.

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.