Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
bottle - Pours a nice amber color with a thin head that lingers for awhile and leaves some lacing. The aroma is hoppy with some light citrus. The flavor is of course dominated by the hops with a pretty good malt balance. The 9% alcohol is well masked. The body is of moderate thickness and the hoppy finish lingers for quite awhile, as expected. It’s no Dogfish Head 90 min, but it’s still a good beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
12 oz bottle. Fridged for only about 45 minutes, not cold at all. Used a St. Sebastiaan, small tulip glass. I had high expectations of this beer, I found it sitting in a crappy beer store’s selves for over a year now. Everything is in pretty good condition. The beer pours beatifully. The body very black, but a but watery looking when poured. Nice brown head. The smell is my first disappointment. While it is very noticable it is also very hoppy. Smells like the hops of a Bigfoot. This is where I know this was not what I was hoping for. Tasted the beer, again hoppy, that West Coast idea of lets cover up the actual flavor of any beer with lots of hops. There is some feel of chocolate or roast behind all those hops but it is very faint. The palate is oily (in a bad way) leaving a mediciny burn on my tongue. Alcohol hidden well. A bitter aftertaste and a bitter feeling in my heart. Highly messed up porter. I’ll let 4 of these guys sit for a few more years to see if any good flavors emerges.6/4/7/2/12.
Rerate: 1/10/07. 9 months later and the beer has got a lot better. Aroma stil has a decent hop presence but the chocolate and roastiness has grown stronger. Taste has some cola-like flavors and an a sweet oatmeal aftertaste. Hops are still there but I can take it a bit better now.7/4/7/2/13.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle Pours a clear deep golden, slightly redish with a modest sized but lasting and dense yellowinsh light tan head. Clingy lacing adds to the pleasing appearance. Nice IPA aromas, combination of piny and citrus with just the right amount of malts to balance. Again, flavors are balanced, with the hops up front a bit. Quite bitter and a nice full body. Lasting dry puckering bitterness. In my mind this is a classic IPA.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
Hazy amber colour. The aroma is all hop - citrusy, foresty. Rich earthy hop character, too. Tasty enough because I love hops, but not especially balanced nor dynamic.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Clear pour of medium amber with a substantial white head. Citrus aroma with just a touch of pine and caramel. Bitter start to finish with plenty of malt underneath. Long sappy finish. One of Mendocino’s better ones.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle consumed on 12/30/05. Frothy white head seems well-retained to begin. Strong hop aroma is spicy, fruity and bitter (lots of grapefruit). Light malt is sugary and slightly doughy, but there is no huge yeast stink or any syrupy caramel malt. Clear and fresh are the hops. Body is copper-amber and bottle conditioned. Flavor is citrusy-piney hops, but significantly more flavor than bitterness. Caramel and pale malt sugars in the background provide balance, body. Light biscuity, almost grainy vienna-like malts in there as well. No alcohol apparency. The hops seem fresh enough, but the malt is a little lacking. Just seems sugary and rather dull. But the amarillo fruitiness almost seems to make up for it. Not to mention the very low acidity, which allows the palate some relief. Light notes of orange zest and candied oranges, as the caramel and cascades combine, edging the pininess somewhat. Gets somewhat watery, and probably my biggest complaint, and kind of the crux of what I feel is wrong here, it finishes very quickly. Sure, some hop bitterness lingers on, but it just turns to watery otherwise. Still, you can’t deny it’s well-brewed. No alcohol apparency is pretty impressive, right down to the last mouthfull of (by now) warm liquid. Lightly creamy texture at times, fairly tight carbonation is also quite low. Light lacing left behind.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Really good winter beer. Strong flavors of rosted coffee and chocolate. Aroma quite the same. Not a bad finish either.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Milwaukee YEHa!05, brought by MIBRomeo. Cloudy yellow-orange body, thin off-white head. Aroma of pine, bread, toast, and a hint of stinky sweat (???). Piney, biscuity body with nice bite and bitterness, cutting the malts to perfection. Rather heavy on the hops, per style. Solid.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2004-2005 bottle. Opaque dark coal-brown pour with a moderate amount of rich, tan head. Plenty of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Aroma of light roast, lots of hops (light green hop smell, with some sweet orange and grapefruit in there), some chocolate and peanut brittle. Flavor begins with a strong roast, that is neither too dry or astringent, followed by sweet chocolate and caramel malts, well extracted and of course, the hops. Everything hangs in a very rounded balance, with a lightly gritty, medium-full to full body. You can really tell that they didn’t skimp on the malting and hops here, which was surprising to me, to be honest. Finishes moderately dry, with some Spanish coffee notes, hints of vanilla and light chocolate. Moderate carbonation does not harm the flow of the body. Little to no alcohol apparency. Bravo Mendocino Brewing!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Black with a tan head. Powerful hop aroma. Flavor is sour coffee and bitter chocolate. The chocolate is there for sure, but the caramel is hardly noticeable. Some sweetness in the finish.