Mendocino Black Eye Ale

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Hopland, California USA

Aroma is sweet malt and fruitiness with some roasty, nearly burnt notes. There is a faint lactose aroma present too, though I doubt it is used in the beer. Pours brown with dark copper tints and a huge sand colored head, easily 3 fingers at first. Taste is mildly roasty with dark fruits and a caramel sweetness followed by more roast and a touch of lactic tang. The finish is roasty with a touch of dark roast coffee and 70% bittersweet chocolate. The aroma takes a while to come out. Not exceptional, but fairly tasty. At $1.99 for a 22oz, I will end up buyinh this again.

Bottl from Irishboy. Body is a dark deep brown, with a thin tan head. Aroma is roasty, copper, light coffee. Taste has a light alcohol tinge, nice roastiness, some hops showing through the roasted malts, and fruit with a slight nuttiness.

bottle. deep thick brown pour; little but thick head. it says it’s a blend, but it smells like a porter - heavy caramel malts, the pale gives it a lighter side perhaps, but the stout isn’t shining through on the aroma. the taste? not a porter. a thinner stout, but not the hops i was expecting from the pale. tastes of darker fruits, chocolate-covered espresso bean, and a little earth/dusty floor effect. overall, it’s a drinkable beer, great with pizza, but it’s nothing spectacular. the finish is fruity and slightly bitter, but it’s just interesting. at the price, i’ll prolly drink a few of these puppies, and definitely adds to the score.

Pours a dark brown with a decent tan head. Aroma is rye bread and molasses. Taste is sweet roasted malt, licorice, molasses, expresso, and a well balanced bitterness derived from both the hops and the burnt characteristics of the malt. This is a terrific ale; much better than expected.

Bottle poured in a tulip. Butter & toffee dominate the nose on this beer. It pours a very dark mahogany with a nice thick head that leaves little lacing. It actually tastes remarkably like what you would think judging by the commercial description. It tastes like a porter and an English ale mixed together. It’s pretty good. It has a slightly lighter body than a typical porter. Although there is some burnt coffee and a touch of toffee the bitter English ale dominates the finish. I think a stout would have worked better than a porter. It may have added a touch more body to it.

Surprisingly good. Pours dary brown with a short tan head. Great lacing. Aroma of burnt coffee, nuts, toasted rye, and some cocoa. Bittersweet chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt in the front that blends slowly with a malty caramel and peppery hop back. Creamy mouthfeel that is a little thin.

Mendocino Black Eye Ale 22 oz bomber Moderate pour in an English pint. Unknown brewing, taken in 07/07 Poured a clear ruddy brown with a fizzy beige mostly lasting head. Smelt of moderate dark rye bread, caramel, grassy hops and grain. Taste was upfront moderate bittersweet dark sweet bread, with light cinnamon followed by a strong bitter yeast bread and grassy hops and light dark sweet spiced bread average length finish. Palate was medium bodied, oily to creamy, lively carbonated and moderately astringent. Overall, although very pleasant, it seems like an odd combination. It’s like a very sweet grainy yeasty light sweet porter. ...with hops. Very distinct flavors, but very scattered and uneven. Somehow the separate beer items are greater than the sum as a whole...

Bottle from Frugal McDugal in Nashville. I bet this stuff must be at least 2 years old. Pours dark brown with a beige head. Aroma of dark roast and nutshells. Mouthfeel has a cheapness type texture to it. Initial flavor of mild dark roast, caramel, and nuts. The middle brings out the hop bitterness and subtle coffee. Astringent and leather like finish, with a filmy dust like flavor that lingers. I am not usually a fan of blends because most of them just don’t seem harmonious, as with this beer. Overall this is very drinkable, but not worth another visit.