Mendocino Blue Heron Pale Ale

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

Clear straw body, thin off-white head. Body is somewhat tangy with earthy, slightly piney hops and biscuity malts. Sweet and resiny. Passable.

Clear golden color with white quickly disappering head. Musty hops in the nose. Doesn’t look like one of the great APAs... Dirty bitter apple juice taste. Taste is finished with apple juice. Unremarkable.

Cloudy golden yellow beige yellow head. Katie says it smeels lie pee. I say it has musty dusty attic aroma no real fruity flavour that you would get from a pale ale. Old apple slightly comes trhough though....dry cream slight oily coating in the palate.

Has a nice uneven white head. Pale amber color beer. I get a subdued fuggle hop aroma. Mild pale malt and hop taste. Average.

Light pale gold yellow color with a thin yet solidly puffed white crown atop, some good stringy lacing and a collar stays through most of the glass. Aroma is mostly malty with a honey bread sweetness thats clean and crisp, bits of citrusy fruit and grassy hops. Taste is more of the same, small and weakened front of low and sweet malts, glides into the hoppy finish quite nicely where a favorable grab of grassy hop bitterness takes control with a mingling effect of some citrus pith and pine underscores. A dry astringency keeps a presense among some of the late finish. A nice finisher, but the front could use a bit more. Feel is quick and crisp, small biting hop finish of grass is nice, but this seems to be missing alot for an IPA, if that is indeed what this is suppose to be, even as a pale, there is something of the balance and flavor thats kinda empty and short lived. Liked the grassy hop edge this has but perhaps it needs something to keep it exciting and intriguing for me to like it any more then just above average. But what, I couldn’t say for certain, beefed up bready malt maybe? Nothing to special, but worth a try.

bottled. i really struggled with this brewery. this tasted canned, very one-dimensional, may have been an old bottle

Hazy amber appearance with a small head and virtually no lacing. Weak, cardboard-like aroma. Loads of carbonation in the medium bodied mouthfeel. Hops dominate an unbalanced taste. Short, metallic finish. No "best by" date that I could find on the bottle (thought that maybe ’age’ contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for this brew).

Small fizzy white well lasting head with a clear orange body. Light crisp hop aroma and has touches of sweet spices. Sweet peppery hops with citrus rind make up the flavor. It is pretty good.