Mad Brewer Mad-Arillo

Pours a cloudy, unfiltered dark orange-amber body with a massive, foamy, off-white head. The foam eventually settles to a thin blanket with a thick clump in the center, leaving behind swaths of sudsy lacing. The aroma shows zesty and spicy orange and grapefruit hops over a lightly toasty caramel malt base. There’s a bit of a strange, sour funk that could possibly indicate some bottling issues. The flavor is very sharp and heavy on the citrus, almost as if I licked a lemon or ingested raw orange peel. Caramel is an afterthought, as the bitterness and astringency of the citrus just overpowers everything else. Needless to say, this isn’t what I was hoping for. Medium bodied, finishing dry, almost chalky, and bitter. Not a good example of an IPA.

Bottle thanks to Nathan! This thing shot right out of the bottle and made a mess on my counter.. when I got the rest of it into my glass, it was hazy medium orange that was lighter at the edges.. tall, fluffy head took forever to settle down. The aroma picked up sweet floral and perfumey notes, cat piss, dusty lemon zest, and toffee sweetness.. somehow this ended up smelling really good! The flavor had sweet bready and lemon notes at the core with heavy perfume and orange bitterness on the edges.. the flow was a bit rocky, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment too much. Medium-bodied with heavy carbonation throughout.. a touch too sharp at the finish, but it was at least refreshing. This was somewhat of a roller coaster experience, but it worked out in the end.

12oz bottle from my Secret Santa. A light pours yields a huge, creamy cloudlike head on top of a cloudy copper brew. Excellent head retention and lacing. Dusty and dry leafy aroma. A tiny amount of citrus and pine hiding behind the predominately earthy and dusty hops. Lots of grassy hops on the palate. A hint of malt behind the hops, but mainly dry and bitter hops. Medium bodied and finishes leafy and dry.

C-Bus 10: Bottle shared by brigadier: Pours a clear amber color with a big white head. Aroma, herbal and earthy, grassy notes. Flavor, grassy, herbal with some pale malts, ehh.

12 oz bottle

This is the second Mad Brewer (aka Brew Keeper) beer that I’ve tried. The only one remaining now is the Hop Fusion. This was slightly better than the Affinity Lager but not by much. It is one of those beers that improves on the releases from the big brewers but still leaves you wanting more. I hope that the beers brewed on premises are better than the bottled offerings.

Aroma / Appearance - A billowing two finger head rests on top of a carbonated brown body. Citrus, pine and earthy flavors come across in a way that is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. Chocolate dipped oranges are the closest single taste that comes to mind.

Flavor / Palate - The first sip is intensely bitter with a trace of tartness. It is very easy to drink and reasonably balanced. The malts and hops play well. Overall it is acceptable yet lacking. Nothing about it stands out which means I am unlikely to pick it up again.