Mad River Jamaica Red Ale

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Blue Lake, California USA

12oz – The Wine Source. Dark hazed amber, creamy off white head. Soft citric-herbal aromas warm to light undercurrents of toasted toffee and chocolate. Well balanced with soft citric iced tea notes rounding with a faint minty cocoa flavor. Light to medium bodied, soft carbonation, light bitter finish. A sessionable beer for a spicy dish pairing…

Location: 12 oz bottle from Gilly’s, 11/22/09

Aroma: Nose is made up of resin, toffee, caramel, floral notes, and toasted malt
Appearance: This one pours a murky caramel-brown with a fizzy tan head
Flavor: The taste is sweet early on, and then flows into a hoppy/bitter finish
Palate: Somewhat lengthy finish, average carbonation, and a light-medium body
Overall Impression: Overall, this is a pretty decent Amber, a nicely balanced and lengthy flavor with a nice mix of malts and hops. Together they make for a very solid brew that is very drinkable, and pretty enjoyable as well. A nice example of the Amber Ale style.

[Bottle] Pours a dark shade of amber with some beige colored head. Sweet aroma of caramel and pine. The taste is of molasses and citrus hops, rounded out by some burnt caramel. Much hoppier than I expected. A dry and astringent finish. The palate was pretty good, with a thick and almost sticky consistency. This was a pretty good beer.

Deep amber pour with a thick sticky tan head. the nose is fairly sweet and malty with a bit of herbal hoppiness over the top. A little bit of sweet toffee and some pretty nice cascadey type citrusy hops. Good balance with a nice lingering sweetness. Soft and sweet with a nice balance and a touch of nice lingering sweetness. Soft and fruity with a nice grapefruity finish. As it warms there is a nice hoppy spiciness that picks up.

A clean ale that drinks pretty easy for 6.6%. The hops are restrained, but very spicy. An earthy bitterness comes more to the front as the beer warms. The finish is long and full of malt and woodsy hops.

Pours huge orange head with nice sized bubbles, topped with some rather large sized ones. Body is orange-red color. On the somewhat cloudy side. Huge amounts of carbonation bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass. Aroma nothing special to write home about. Flavor not of a traditional amber/brown ale with more hop character than normal. Not unpleasant. As it warms up a bit the hoppy flavor becomes more pronounced. would stand up good to spicy food such as a curry or (shutter!!) jerked chicken.

A great caramel aroma. Flavor is sweet caramel malt. A good balance of hops and malts with a smooth finish. A great amber.

A turbid reddish-brown color on the pour with a two-finger tall head and good lacing. The aroma was light citrus and some toasted, almost burnt malts. The flavor was citrus and floral hops that gave way to nutty, toasted malt. A bit of a metallic twang on the finish. Thin to medium bodied with a unfiltered rawness.