Mad River Jamaica Sunset IPA

Brewed by Mad River Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Blue Lake, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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12 oz. single bottle from Total Wine here in Jacksonville, Florida. Not sure why they decide to use Jamaica for the name, considering this type of beer is not even close to anything that Red Stripe puts out. Nonetheless, beer pours gold with a light white head. Aroma is a bit hoppy and it has some very sharp sweet notes. Taste is almost all hops and a bit of sweet caramel and the finish is very nice. A hidden gem of an IPA.

Pretty fantastic, very original IPA. Rich, roasty malt backbone. Not a classical IPA as the hops are not really showcased and really not present in the traditional floral, piney, citrusy hoppy way. However I am rating this on how good of a drink I thought it was and not on whether it matched its designated style paradigm. Its really more a hoppy amber ale but with much more robust hop profile, although very muted. Caramelly sweet malt base. A little grassy hop twinge - just very slight. Nice drink, very enjoyable.

Pours clear copper until the sediment dropped into the glass. Now the copper has a hazy orange hue to go along with a thin off white head. There’s still sediment sludge left behind in the bottle. The aroma has sharp citrus hop notes with grapefruit juice bitterness being the main one followed by tangelo and a hint of sweet orange juice. I can just smell a vague malt sweetness too. The taste has several levels and varieties of citrus hops just like the nose. Initially I get sweet orange juice followed by a tart grapefruit and then tangelo hop bitterness. Very nice. There’s also a hint of malt behind all of the hops.

Bottle. Poured golden red with foamy white head. Slight hoppy aroma with floral graces. Hoppy flavour with floral and honey notes. Linfering hoppy finish all over the tongue. This is another ale I would call a Cape ale. It’s hoppier and more bitter than a pale or amber, but not as hoppy as an India. A very worthy effort, worth seeking out.

12 oz stubby bottle. Smells more sweet than hoppy, with lots of citrus. The hops are present in the flavor though... not very strong, but the flavor is actually really good. Not what I would expect from an IPA, but this is very drinkable... a great any-day beer.

17/09/2011 12 Fl. Oz. bottle @ Ginger Man NYC (2011-449)

Cloudy dark orange to amber coloured beer, leight beige sediment floating around. Light beige aery and unstable head, non adhesive. Aroma: typical pineapple, passion fruits and some peaches, sweet fruity, some sweet malts. MF: little carbon, medium body. Taste: fruity, pretty sweet start, citrus fruits, soft bitter hops, peaches, little yeast (maybe the age). Aftertaste: bitter and dry but still fruity ending. Very nice IPA.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy orange-amber color with a small beige had that fades quickly and left some lacing. The aroma was sour and tangy with moderate pine and grapefruit and a touch of caramel. The flavor was sweetish and tangy with moderate caramel, pine and grapefruit and light fruity cocktail and caramel. The finish was long, sweet and fruity. Smooth despite all the hops and fairly full bodied. So nicely quaffable it outpaces the sum of it’s parts. Very nice.

the i.p.a. had a dark golden color with a little white head.nice balanced aroma.this isnt a super-hopped ipa,but i must say its very smooth and drinkable.if you like your ipa’s on the smoother side.this is for you.

pours hazy dark orange with a reddish hue almost amber, thin head which diminishes quickly. Aroma of citrus- grapefruit, peach maybe, lemon, tea. Flavor is malt heavy with the citrus hops in their as well but subdued, reminds me of iced tea with lemon. Nothing groundbreaking, but a very nice pleasant and drinkable beer - good summertime beer. Better than a 67 percentile - probably would do better in a pale ale category.

I picked this up at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; enjoyed after a long Friday. Appearance is a very cloudy gold with a frothy head that sticks to the sides of the glass. Aroma mostly of stinky hops, slightly floral, but mostly like a men’s gym locker room after a football game. I can’t say that it’s a bad aroma, I don’t like to the aroma of a men’s locker room (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) but it’s the type of hops aroma that I’ve grown akin to. Taste of hops and a hint of caramel, not bad at all. However, this 6 pack was $14 and I don’t think it was quite worth it.