Mendocino Eye of the Hawk Select Ale

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

This beer really set me up for disappointment. It had a very nice appearance and pleasant smell, but the flavor just didn’t live up to the expectations set by these other elements. Flavor was an unpleasant melange of weird flavor notes that I just couldn’t stomach. Most of this went down the drain. Appearance was a copper color with a great mishmash of sturdy foam across the top. Aroma was pleasantly hoppy yet balanced...or so I thought. Flavor was anything but balanced. This beer was far more malty than hoppy and had an unbalanced maltiness that I could characterize with flavor descriptions such as old coffee, pennies that you’ve sucked on for five to ten minutes, and some toffee. Eye of the Hawk had a very limited amount of hoppiness in its aftertaste. Mouthfeel was unremarkable, but due to its taste I would call this beer undrinkable. Most of mine went down the drain.

Bomber. Aroma of caramel and dark malt. Orange tinged amber color with a white head that quickly ringed. A bit thin bodied, with very mild carbonation. The flavor is mostly caramel malt, but there seems to be some grassy and grapefruit hops. It’s really enjoyable. The finish is lightly, malty sweet, yet rather dryish, and the hop is more citrus and floral than harsh bitter. Really good.

12 oz. bottle. Deep amber color, many strings of bubbles feeding a thin head. Strong malty and alcohol smell. Malty taste, too, like an amber malt liquor, but without all those alwful off tastes. Caramel taste. Strong without being heady. Quite sticky. Forced carbbonation is the only distraction; hope some day to catch it on draft.

Cloudy amber with big, foamy head / Bready, malt nose / Spritzy, light body / Flavors of burnt sugar and grape soda / Thin finish.

Bottle, slight sour aroma, malts are fairly light. Decent light hops, alcohol is slightly noticble. Palate is a bit light, but its it reminds me a bit of beefed up english pale ale. Ok.

Bottle poured orange hued honey color with virtually no head. Heavy caramel and hop aroma with alcohol notes. It’s got a pretty complex sweet flavor with balanced hoppiness,but tends to flatten out a bit as it warms.

Bright amber with more red than brown, and a bubbly white head. Nice lacing. Crisp aroma of malt and strong Saaz hops. Clean malty taste that pops out of the glass. Nice blend of the Saaz bitter and Cascade citrus. Tastes a little like an ESB in that regard. Alcohol is well hidden. Very nice.

Bottle: Georgeous color; a little sweet in the finish for my taste - the malts overwhelm the hops giving it a cloying sort of finish. Good, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it.