Mendocino Winter Seasonal Imperial IPA

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

12 oz. single bottle from Total Wine in Jacksonville, FL. Was surprised to find this here, but a nice find nonetheless. Pours a nice orange color with a nice head. Aroma is nice and hoppy with a good IPA smell. Taste is sharp, a touch of sour and a nice hops finish. Really nice, needs a touch more somewhere to be an outstanding IPA.

Bottle. Pours an orangish copper body with a pretty big hops aroma. Grapefruit and pine are the main draws in the nose and also run a bit wild in the flavor... getting a bit out of control and taking the whole thing over. Don’t get me wrong, they are really nicely done, but I bet anything that with just a little aging this would be fantastic as the malt presence starts to assert itself just a little more. Still, a really nice drink in the dead of a blizzard.

Nice aroma with hints of alcohol malt and hops. Good golden amber color. Nice flavoe with medium to stong alcohol and strong hop notes that finish balanced on the pallet but not dry.

12 oz bottle $6.99 for a sixer, not bad price for such a good ipa. Tast like a lighter 90 minute, has the same fruit bitterness. Pours a nice quality head with clean carbonation. Wow what an amazing beeeeeeer.

12oz bottle-A light amber body with an aroma of hops and slight malt. Taste of the same with the hops going throughtout the brew. A great tasting IIPA for the price. Great job.

Pours a reddish gold color with a light head that leaves some lacing as it goes down. The beer is extremely clear. The overwhelming smell is of bitter hops and maybe some grass. The beer is pretty hoppy, but it also a little sour. The beer takes on an almost creamy texture in the mouth and has a long lasting aftertaste. The hop flavor isn’t quite as strong as I would expect from an imperial IPA, but this is a pretty good beer.

12oz Bottle $6.99 6-Pack Binny’s Orland This is bottle was brewed in Saratoga Springs, NY. Mendocino’s Winter Seasonal is a IIPA. I wish there were more IIPA Winter seasonals. Pours crystal clear with a dirty copper hue. The bright white head grew to one finger on the pour and after relaxing for a minute or two fell to a thin cap leaving some decent sticky lacing on it’s way down. This beer is pretty big on the malty end for a IIPA. I prefer mine huge on hops but a nicely balanced IIPA is good every now and then. A thick layer of caramel maltiness creates the base for this beer. The hoppiness comes along floral with swirls of citrus here and there. Good smell but a little faint for my liking. The taste really stands out without really standing out. It’s perfectly balanced between the big caramel malt and the lightly floral and citric hoppiness. The hoppiness is soft and enjoyable which go really well with the caramel. Like I said before, I’m more into the one-sided hoppy IIPAs but this is a very well balanced and tasty brew. The body is medium with a velvety smoothness. The carbonation is on the lower end of the spectrum which lets this beer just glide across the palate. The superb balance makes this beer extremely easy to put away. I could easily drink these all night long. I think this might be my first Mendocino beer. For some reason none of their beers really appealed to me until I noticed a IIPA and for $6.99 a sixer. I had to give it a try and I’m glad I did. I’ll be picking up more of this soon. Pick this up if you see it, it’s a sleeper for sure. 12/7/07

12 oz. pour clear coppery amber with light head yeilding to delicate lacing. Immediate aroma packing the punch of strong hops, dry acidic fruits and malty rich undertones. Initial flavor of ruby red grapefruit and lime mixed with a salty sweet mid palate and a bitter hoppy finish followed by a rich, rugged earthy aftertaste of malt, hops and lingering citrus. Somewhat reminiscent of the caribbean. This beer would be delicious paired with pork loin, chops or a nice fish like tuna steak and a light papaya/pineapple/cilantro chutney.