Showing posts with label Mad River Brewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mad River Brewing. Show all posts

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Day 70: 03.11.10 Mad River Serious Madness Black

Mad River Brewing Co.

Blue Lake, California


Serious Madness Black Ale


Style: American Strong Ale
Availability: Rotating - Seasonal
Format: 12oz - 4pk
ABV: 8.6%
IBUs: 74.7


Bottle text & Info:
Serious Madness is an inky black brew with amber edges, Light bodied, silky smooth, complex and delicious. Not for the meek and timid this beer ferments out at a gratifying 8.6% ABV with an IBU
of 74.7


Tasting Notes:
Pours a brownish black with ruby edges. Small quarter inch head that retains enough to dust the top. Smells of toffee and molasses with a subtle prune note. Mouthfeel is silky smooth and chewy. No perceivable alcohol, and a solid cocoa base with some dark fruits, cherries and berries finishing with a sufficient amount of hops to keep my interest. A pretty solid little black ale that drinks somewhere between a imperial brown and a double porter.



Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Day 20: 01.20.10 Mad River John Barleycorn

Mad River Brewing Co.

Blue Lake, California


John Barleycorn Barleywine Ale


Style: American Barleywine
Availability: Limited - Seasonal - Winter
ABV: 9.1%




Bottle text & Info:
N/a


Tasting Notes: 
So basically, Mad River saved you the work. read the label, notice the vintage. yep. 2008. The fine folks over at Mad River double batched the 08, releasing half and sitting on the other half. What you have here is the batch that has been aged at the brewery. Now lets get into it and see how the flavors are. Nose and appearance are as expected. Deep copper, little to no head, wafts of eastery and prune like smells. Brown sugar and dark fruit notes sandwiching a nice little touch of citrus hops finishing with a peppery, mustard green like dryness. Overall, a pretty little solid little barleywine. Perhaps not as strong in the abv as i'd expect in a BW but the flavor profile is great. Many have likened this to an older english style barleywine but the hops are much too prevalent for me to make that correlation. You gotta appreciate the effort from Mad River. hand claps for letting this one sit for a year and mass releasing!