Mad River Brewing Co.
Blue Lake, CA
Available: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NC, NV, OR, PA, VA, WA, WI
Mad River Brewing Co. is an industry leader in environmentally responsible brewing, achieving a waste-reduction rate of 98% through composting, recycling, and reuse.
ABV: 8.6
ABW: 6.85
Color: reddish-copper
Bitterness: n/a
Original Gravity: 1080
Chewy and resinous on the nose and palate. Notes of grapefruit, fallen peaches, pine needles, and exotic pepper wrapped in layers of thick honey, caramel, and toffee. Warming finish. Massive and assertive in every way, but still maintaining its balance. As much a meal as it is a beverage. Craft brewers pushing the envelope. God bless America!
This copper-colored ale is almost a textbook example of what I mean when I rant about balance in big alcohol, big hop beers. There is some hoppiness in the nose, of course, but the dominant aromas are of lush fruits like ripe mandarin orange, mango and peach. In the mouth, the malt-sided story continues, with orange toffee and rich honey notes up front, sliding slowly through tropical fruit into a more bitter, hop-driven body and lingering, gently warming finish. A double IPA I enjoy all on its own, although I wouldn’t refuse a piece of high cocoa-content chocolate.
John Hansell is an equal-opportunity drinker. He writes about beer, wine and spirits. He is the creator, publisher & editor of Malt Advocate, a magazine for the whisky enthusiast.
Stephen Beaumont boarded his first plane at the age of 15 and hasn’t looked back since, obsessing about travel to the point that he gets nervous if he doesn’t have a ticket or two stacked on the corner of his desk. When he’s not running around in search of new taste experiences, he makes his home in Toronto, where a new cultural experience is only as far away as the next neighborhood.
