Mendocino Winter Ale (05/06 - IIPA)

Formerly brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Saratoga Springs, New York USA

12oz bottle. Rerate--Pours the same with a slightly larger, creamy lightly reddish orange white head. Aroma is still the pineapple, citrus and pine, though they don’t seem as strong as they were last time I had this. Chewy caramel malts and brown sugar are pretty strong, though. The hop flavors in the taste I pick up on are pine resiny, grassy, spicy, with a very nice caramel brown sugar backbone. Lingering bitter grassy finish. I can pick up on some alcohol warmth. Medium to full bodied, lighter carbonation. Nice lacing throughout. Original rating 4.0......new rating 4.0--though I increased appearance to 4 and decreased overall to 16. Original rating follows. Pours a clear copper penny color with a small, off-white head--I think it was off-white, it disappeared so quickly. Aroma of pine and grapefruit--ah, the cascades. Also a little bit of sweet caramel malts. Taste of big fat piney spicy hops--big bitterness-- with a little bit of caramel sweetness in there somewhere. Lingering bitterness. Great beer for a hop head. Hard to believe it’s 9%abv, I can’t pick up any ETOH warmth.

Very impressive double IPA...very robust cascade hop profile on top of a roasted caramel malt base that keeps things well balanced. But, fortunately, the grapefruit/pine/orange juice hops eventually have the day by dominating the long lingering finish. Great seasonal session beer...but will it ever be available again...?

Deep copper. Creamy, dense off white head. Spicy, resinous, piney hops and rich malt in the nose. Flavor is big hops with enough malt to give it a slightly creamy texture. Clean, bitter finish. Fresh grapefruit aftertaste. Smooth with just a bit of tingly carbonation. Medium body. Excellent. Hop to malt ratio is almost perfect. Dabgerously drinkable at 9%. A steal at $7/6 pack. Underrated at 3.7.

Pours a reddish orange brown (so many colors) with some decent creamy tan head. Nose is pure piney resinous hops, some maple and caramel. Taste is more of an herbal grapefruit, complemented somewhat by some malts. But with the relative lack of malts towards the end, this beer really thins out and become rather dry and astringent. Still very solid, the alcohol is unoticeable in both the aroma and flavor, but defintely noticeable in my veins. I made the mistake of drinking five of these the other night in a rather short time. Still, for 6.99/6 pack, this is a steal and hard to beat.

12oz bottle from Goldtwins. Pours a medium copper color with a small off white head. Nose is very fresh grapefruit, light caramel, light pine and some other northern hardwoods foresty smells. Taste is light grapefruit, lots of fresh hops, a bit of candied sugar, a nice bitterness and a subtle alcohol warming in the throat. Also, some light spice and pine in the flavor.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a foamy head that leaves nice lacing. Strong aroma mainly of pine and grapefruit hops, with hints of sweet malts. An immediately overwhelming bitter grapefruit flavor. After a few sips, one adjusts slightly; grapefruity and piney hops are still the primary tastes, but there’s a bit of sweet malt. Finishes dry and bitter, with a long astringent aftertaste nearly identical to the aftertaste from eating grapefruit. The 9% alcohol is basically unnoticeable. A pretty good double IPA, but a bit too grapefruity for my tastes.

Re-rate after 18 months’ aging: Quite good now! I’d give this a 3.7 if I were rating it as an aged beer.

Clear, golden-amber body with a sudsy white head that left some noticeable lace. Aroma of brown sugar, maple, and woodsy and citrusy hops. Has a distinctly American hop signature. Flavor is quite hoppy and bitter with a malty sweet background. A good, standard American DIPA that never really stands out.

Poured an amber color with a small, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of pine, citrus and floral hops, some caramel malts as well. Taste of citrus, and more caramel, pine, grapefruit, and a touch of lemon. No alcohol that I noticed.