Mateveza Organic Golden Ale

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Hopland, California USA

Cloudy strawish sort of colour. The aroma is toasty and herbal. Bitter, leafy, slightly tannic character with herbal hops, light bready malt. Well-balanced, until the finish anyway. That is a big flourish of yerba mate but also rather tannic.

light blood orange color and small head med body and crisp bubbles bitter yerbamate is overpowering on aroma and taste but there is some carmel malt citrus a little spiced plums and subtle creamy milk. beer is great if...youre a big fan of yerbamate. just an offbalanced and one note beer

From a 22 oz bottle poured a golden color with minimal head and lacing. Very odd tea flavor and nose. There are some herbs here, and a bit of floral hops. Mouthfeel fairly smooth. Finish short and crisp. Strange brew.

if you are a fan of tea, you might enjoy this. the tea flavor is the dominate, while the beer seems almost secondary. very smooth all the way around. for the tea drinkers

The aroma is exactly what you would expect with yerba mate tea dominating. It’s sweet, herbal, and earthy. The appearance is hazy golden-copper with a smaller head. The flavor is also very herbal and tea like with the malt taking a back seat. There is both sweet and bitter here but the novelty element overshadows the actual "beer". The palate is smooth. Overall I have to say I like this very much but I like yerba mate tea.

On tap at City Beer in San Francisco. This blonde ale poured with a thin white head. The flavor is herbal and hoppy with a sour finish. I drink a lot of mate, but I couldn’t really detect that flavor in the brew. Nevertheless, it was a tasty, refreshing and very unique drink.

Appearance: Pours a clear, golden hued body with a thinnish white head. Smell: Leafy and vegetablesque mainly, with a nice, engaging little honey character throughout as well as just a touch of lemon. There’s a sprinkling of spice in there, too, a bit like what you’d get out of a weak pumpkin ale. Taste: Earthy, herbaceous tea-like flavors set against just the faintest bit caramel. Finishes crisp, with a lightly herbal, citrusy bitterness."Good, huh? That’s my batwing broth. There’s eye of newt in there, tree mold, old lizard brains, scales from a rancid sea serpent." Mouthfeel: Watery, with a surpassingly thin body and equally thin carbonation. Drinkability: A novel, unorthodox brew that makes for an effective mid-session palate cleanser, but beyond that, well...

Certainly attention getting, I suppose. Odd herbal character permiates both the aroma and flavor, which go ahead and ascribe to the yerba matte, since I have no idea what that is, anyway. Also some yeasty, bready, notes, as well. Interesting stuff, though now that my curiousity has been satisfyed, I’m not sure I’d get it again.