Mendocino Blue Heron Pale Ale

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Hopland, California USA

Cloudy gold with good head/ Wheat and citrus nose / Medium body, a touch watery, with strong, dry, hoppy finish / Flavors of burnt sugar and lemon overshadowed by hops. Decent but unremarkable.

12oz bottle. even for an APA, the hue just isn’t quite right. the aromas are surprisingly dark. a bit of prunes and dates sneak in somehow, and it’s almost chewy. no hops in the aroma, in fact it’s fairly thin. the flavor is really strange. it’s not a bad beer, but it’s definitely different. i don’t know if the classification is right, being an APA. this beer is somewhat creamy, but i think that’s actually on the finish. there are fruits there, and there are also hints of hop and dirty earthy tones. caramel hits the front palate, as does dry fruit. i actually think it’s the caramel that morphs into the cream on the back palate. the hops are just too green. what’s the life expectancy here? there are good aspects about this beer, and it can be a good beer. it’s just not one that i’m favoring. but the price isn’t bad. it’s worth trying, i suppose. it helps me appreciate the really great ales.

Fruity, malty aroma; smallish, white foam; flavor is mostly of hops with a bit of malt; short hoppy finish.

Clear straw yellow, odd celery-vegetal aroma. Crisp palate of grainy pale malt with only a whiff of hop character. Just bland really.

Herons are beautiful birds - this is not a beautiful bird. Dissappointed with this. There is a hop character, but it leaves a bit of a dirty aftertaste. A fair beer, but there are better.

Pours a light amber color with a white head. Dissapointed in the appearance on this one. Aroma is of citrus hops, sweet malts, and caramel. A little light and watery on the aroma as well. Flavor is a little better then what I thought it was going to be with citrus and pine hops dominating. Slightly watery on the finish but still has some bittering. Flavor lingers but not for too long. Dissapointed in this brew.

Pours pleasing yellow with small eggshell head. Nose is faint sour malt and pine hops. Citrus and pine hops dominate the flavor, with more sour malt. No biscuit or bready malt evident. Aftertaste is grapefruit. Watery mouthfeel. Acrid, too much grapefruit (almost grapefruit peel). Neh.

I was not too impressed with this IPA. Its aroma is only faintly hoppy, flavor is very lightly hoppy but also includes some banana notes I feel do not belong, and mouthfeel is a bit watery. Apearance is excellent, with a hazy and gold color and sloppy-appealing amounts of cumulus head. Not ad, but not really recommended either.