One of Mad River’s beers named after the ’steelhead’, apparently a local name for the rainbow trout. Medium thick, creamy, tan head breaking in the middle but otherwise retaining well, over a jet black beer, not even letting any light through at the edges - clearly a lot of dark malts went in here. Very pleasant ’sniffing’ bouquet of chocolate sauce and ’fondant’ chocolate bars, cocoa powder, cappuccino, vanilla beans, stewed beef, coffee powder, cinnamon, subtle hints of damp pipe tobacco, gingerbread, kahlua, smoldering Cuban cigar ashes, horse steak, English Christmas cake, hazelnut paste, dried banana, black pepper, wet leather. Creamy onset of ’deep’ basic sourishness nicely paired with restrained raisin and fig sweetness as well as meaty umami - the classic onset of any good stout, I’d argue. Carbonation remains very soft, supporting an oily, creamy, thick body, built on a thick layer of immediately toasted bittersweet malts which turn more roasted bitter in the end with black bitter chocolate and even aromatic black coffee flavors, but do not lose a thin trace of caramel sweetness for balance; this malty bittersweetness with more roasted bitterness than caramelly sweetness dominates the finish, where a dash of peppery, spicy hops is thrown in and eventually a faint but noticeable glow of ’non-obnoxious’, soft and rounded, generic alcohol joins forces, while delicious cocoa and vanilla impressions rise up retronasally. After swallowing, the ’dull’, almost metal-like sourishness of roasted barley sticks to the throat as a reminder that it was indeed a stout you just poured down - along with lingering black coffee flavors. Satisfying, aromatic, well-bodied and tasteful stout, rich and filling while technically flawless: this is very accomplished. In terms of substyle: too strong and too creamy for a dry stout, I guess this qualifies as one of those non-historical new American ’double’ stouts. Whatever it is: nothing extreme here, but so well-balanced and that I would still recommend it to any stouthead.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Mad River Redwood Stout (by Mad River Brewery):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4/5

29/II/16 - 12Fl. Oz. bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte) @ home - BB: n/a (2016-248) Thanks to Erwin for sharing the bottle!

Clear dark brown to black beer, small creamy beige to brown head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: very rich, mocha, coffee, roasted, bit smoky, molasses. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: very bitter, hoppy, roasted, coffee, bit sour, lots of dark chocolate, cocoa powder. Aftertaste: hoppy, bitter, very roasted, sour touch, fruity notes, more sour, coffee. I like stouts with a slightly sour edge to it.