Mateveza Yerba Mate IPA

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

Mateveza Brewing Company--Custom Brewed By Mendocino Brewing Company, Ukiah, California--Mate Veza Yerba Mate IPA--Organic India Pale Ale Brewed with Yerba Mate--naturally caffeinated from organic yerba mate--USDA Organic. 2009 Release. 22 oz. Bottle. 7.00% ABV. 60 IBU’s. 3.9 / 5.0. IPA--Yerba Mate. No sediment. Thin lace light white head. Cloudy bright orange gold color.Floral Yerba Mate fruit hop herbal aromatic front. Sweet tea caramel fruit ester smooth fresh crisp flavorful thin body. Mild hot hop spice Yerba Mate stimulating end.Refreshing odd IPA. 12/30/2009. $5.50 Each.

Well, it is organic. 22. Pours a crystal clear medium gold. Towering, fluffy platinum blond head. Grassy, earthy, slightly piney nose. Creamy medium body. Slight carb. Pretty much wretched mid-palate...fusel, vegetal, scorched, toasty, nutty mess. Long scorchy ultra-bitter tannic finish. Evidently the mate is only for the early mornings and needs to be managed carefully. Not working as a beer ingredient. Might be fun to get wired on.

Mateveza Yerba Mate IPA 12/17/09 (bottle. Pours clear dark orange with a fast-receding head. I felt like I had to race to drink the beer before the head completely disappeared! Nose is root vegetables, pine needles, and a touch of grapefruit pith. Flavor is just wrong. Leafy hops peak through amongst a muck of medicinal, ashy, astringent herbs. The flavor – which has potential, initially – gets muddy real quick amongst off minerally/vegetable notes. At least the finish seems clean with appropriate hop bitterness.) 2.9.

Date: September 21, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Belmont Station, Portland
Appearance: clear amber, fine beige head, bits of drippy lace
Aroma: sweet caramel and crystal malt aroma, lots of floral hops, touch of citrus
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, drying earthyness, berry like herbal character (yerba mate?), plenty of balancing bitterness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: ** /4

Pours a medium orange with a small white head. Vague but unique floral aroma with berry. Smoky, meaty flavor, with the usual fruity hops. Mouthfeel is dead, watery, low carbonation. Overall, good minus.

~Aroma of resinous and citrus hops with a bit of berry and a sweet maltiness. ~Pours a cloudy orange with diminishing white head. ~Berry citrus hop flavor with hop derived astringency. ~Thin bodied, medium carbonation, bitter hop finish, ~Good aroma, small head, taste is lacking something. Very thin for an IPA. Decent, definitely drinkable.

12oz bottle. Dark, dirty honey body topped with an off-white head that lasts but doesn’t lace. Aroma is floral hops dominated by agave or some sort of cactus (prickly pear? yerba mate?...whatever that is), funky-musky-herby sweetness, floral tea. Mouth is medium with light carbonation and a watery finish with some distinct, astringent qualities (like a not-quite-ripe persimmon). Flavor is mildly hoppy, woody, touch of honey, after-taste of apple cider vinegar and the astringent substance mentioned in palate (tea-like), and pine hops. Quince comes to mind, probably for the astringency and strange sweetness. Interesting for sure. Definitely an herb-vegetable.

Bottle thanks to travita. Amber with a white head. Nose is spicy with hops fighting to be noticed. Not bad on the palate with a decent hop flavor that finishes spicy.