Mad River Steelhead Extra Stout

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

Thick, opaque, black body that is almost completely void of even the darkest brown highlights. This sucker is BLACK. A small, coffee colored head settles pretty quickly to a thin film with a prominent, bubbly edge. The aroma is rich, roasty, and creamy. Melted dark chocolate malts meld with freshly ground coffee beans, molasses, cream, and a touch of piney hops. The flavor is intensely roasty up front, with bakers chocolate and coffee assaulting the tongue. Cream smoothes things out considerably at the mid-point, finishing slightly dry and hoppy. Medium-full bodied and incredibly smooth and very well balanced. This is a damn good beer.

Black with dark tan head. Nice powered cocoa aroma, a little lacto, a little roast. A little light on the body. Taste starts with a mild milky sweetness and dark chocolate/roastiness, with the finish having a bit of hop presence. Pretty good brew, the best of the Mad River bottles I’ve tried.

Pours a dark chocolate color, almost black, with very little head. The beer smells of malt, molasses, and alcohol. The mixture of sweet molasses and alcohol isn’t particularly exciting to me. Thankfully the taste of alcohol is much weaker than the smell, so the beer is actually pretty good. It is a bit sweet with coffee, chocolate and roasty malts in the background. There is barely any carbination in the beer. It doesn’t have quite as much body as I would like, but other than that and the aroma I think this is a pretty good beer.

12 ounce bottle pint glass. Black with brown ring head. Chocolate chip cookie aroma. Very fruity flavor, like roasted dark chocolate Raisinettes with lingering fruity bitterness. Medium-full body, medium carbonation. Perhaps not entirely fresh. Very drinkable and enjoyable if not the most complex of stouts

12 oz bottle, via fordest. Pours an inky black body, 100% opaque under a small covering of fizzy dark brown head. The nose is a nice mix of dark chocolate and roast with some light coffee and milk chocolate. A little light hoppiness. The flavor is dry and roasty with a slight chalkiness on the lightly bitter finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a fairly silky texture and nice soft carbonation that only comes from bottle conditioning. Overall a very solid stout. Surprised I liked it so much really.

Bottle from Belmont Party. Poured dark brown color with an average frothy brown head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Solid roasted coffee and chocolate malt aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture. Medium roasted chocolate flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Good and my expectations where met.

Pretty decent for a generic Stout. It pours thick and dark brown out of the bottle, then turns black in the glass and is covered by a deep cocoa head. Nice aroma of fresh coffee, chocolate, and barley. The chocolate grows in the flavor as the coffee fades back and a soft bitterness comes in near the finish. Pretty decent stuff.

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Bottle. Pours black with tan head. Roast malt aroma. Full body, malty with notes of chocolate, toffee, coffee and carame. Lekker malty finish. This goes on my must have again list.