Mendocino Black Eye Ale

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

Bomber. Pours a clear dark brown with ruby highlights and a fluffy tan head. Flowery hops evident in the toffee and chocolate aroma. Medium body and moderate carbonation. Taste of chocolate, toffee, nuts with a dash of vanilla. Semi-dry coffee finish with a touch of pine. Nice, fairly refreshing example of a black and tan.

From a 22-ounce bottle. Pours a dense dark brown with lasting tan head and lace. slight cocoa aroma. Medium body with a full mouthfeel. An even dry/sweet flavor balance with dark malts dominating the flavor profile. Slight chocolate and carmel hints, minimal hop presence except late in the finish. Somewhat carbnated. Interesting...

A sweet smelling aroma with hints of smoke and chocolate.pours a deep, dark red color with a thick head.Flavor is hoppy with some chocolate.Really nothing to good about this beer.

Dark reddish brown, small head with average lacing and retention. Aroma is chocolate, some lesser roasty and coffee notes. Flavor is fairly sweet chocolate with astringency and alcohol burn. Not enjoyable at all.

dark ruby color with minimal tan head.. to be honest, i’m so drunk i can’t even tell tell you what this beer tastes like. i know it tastes and smells like malt. not bad

22oz. bottle. Predominantly malty aroma, roasty, fruity and sweet with notes of caramel, milk chocolate, doughy black bread and faint citrus, perhaps some earthiness and faint coffee in the background. Deep, dark clear red-brown color with a substantial, lasting and creamy head. Flavor is also sweetly roasted and malty, some dusty cocoa and toffee noted, along with a gentle amount of spicy, citric, floral hop character and lightly peppery bitterness towards the finish. Some very faint honey and smoke late. Creamy and smooth on the palate with a medium-full body. A mildly interesting experiment.

I liked this one better than anmy other mendocino I’ve had though I have not tried the stout on its own. The lack of head really hurts the appearance and belies the heartiness of the beer. I know these guys do pretty high gravity and you can tell in the taste but they mask the alcohol with a fruity smokiness very well. I’ve had much worse of this style and higher prices. A great beer if you want something with great mouthfeel and taste at a budget price.

Almost opaque, dark brown with medium-large tan head that tries to last. Aroma is sweet corn, nuts, raisins, malt and slight hint of pepper. Taste is kind of mild, pretty well balanced with some dark fruit and tingly hop. Aftertaste shows more appearance of the dry stout-coffee flavors. Not great, but this beer is better than it sounds, and is a pretty good buy at $2.99 per 22 oz. bottle. Also gotta appreciate the attempt to do the porter in the historical style of the "two threads".