Mendocino Winter Seasonal Imperial IPA

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Hopland, California USA

great IPA, its a good malt beer, with strong piney hops and sharp overtones. Proceed with caution.

The aroma is grassy, soapy, citrusy, and malty. The appearance is light amber with a foamy head. The flavor is like the aroma and slightly salty. The palate is thick. Overall it’s a good beer.

bottle. pours a clear amber with a reasonable off white head that is probably still there, and leaves great lacing. floral, piney, and earthy hops dominate a solid nutty bready malt backbone. the overall effect is sort of like almonds and bubblegum, if that makes sense, and if it makes sense that it smells good. nutty malts dominate the flavor, still leaning toward breadiness. solid hop profile, with more floral, some citrus, and occasional hints of both piny and earthy. but the malt definitely dominates. very light bitterness for a double ipa. this seems to be a style all its own. there’s an exceptionally creamy mouthfeel; that might be the thing about this beer that stands out the most. body is on the fuller side of medium, with a ton of carbonation. i want to call this an imperial apa rather than ipa. the hop character just doesn’t make up enough of the beer for it to be an ipa or iipa. quite a delightful beer, though. i can get a case of this for $25 in western pa, and i almost feel obligated to do that, especially with the 30% increase in the price of my favorites.

Bottle from Midtown in Nashville. Pours amber gold with a nice white head. Nice grapefruit and lemon aroma from the hops. Medium bodied, but with good carbonation and dry texture. Initial flavor of pale malts, which have a subtle toasted malt and biscuit accent. This transitions to a grapefruity bitterness, that carries to to the semi dry finish. Grapefruit rind lingers on the palate. Well done, and available locally. This is very different from the 05/05 IIPA, which is by far their best beer. Bring it back please!

Bottle from Daniel. Pours and orange color with not much head on it. Smell is sweet and full of citrus lemon flavors. Little bit of grass and pine smells as well. Taste was strong on the hop end with a nice sticky hop flavor to it. Plenty of citrus to accompany as well. Easy to drink especially at the lower alcohol content. Worth seeking out, even though it does not really stand out among IIPA’s..

not a bad IIPA. pours out a lighter orange color with a smaller head. aroma is very hoppy and grassy. Flavor is very much the same with a nice citrus undertone. finish was weak though.

12oz bottle. Golden orange body mixed with some amber highlights. Stout, thick white head, 2 fingers thick. Very densely packed, bubbly on the top. Incredible retention and lacing. Great looking beer. Nose is less impressive. There are hops here, but this isn’t the type of hop bomb I was expecting. There are definitely a lot of citrus and floral hops here, but if you are looking for something to knock your socks off in the aroma department, this isn’t it. Caramel/toffee malts, pine cones, grassy notes and citrus fruits split equal time with the hop bouquet. Fore is a bit soapy and medicinal, in turns. Middle of the palate brings more hops into the fold, along with the sweet caramel backing. Back end brings the medicinal notes back, along with a ton of hop bitterness. Tastes more like a IIPA when compared to the aroma. Medium bodied, note quite as oily and slick as I would have expected from the style. Finish is medium in length, bitter citric hops, pine, sweet malts and some additional medicinal notes. Just an above average IIPA, but isn’t going to wow you in any one direction.

pours a copper gold with a 11/1 finger fluffy off white head. aroma is caramel malt and hops with citrus and pine. has a medium body with clumpy lacing and good carbonation. flavor is the same as aroma but a bit stronger. has a nice dry hop aftertaste and the pine just sticks to the tongue for a while. not bad but it is in between an ipa and iipa. the aroma does get better as it warms.