Mad River Steelhead Extra Stout

This is one of my favorites. Black, you can’t see nothing thru this. Not much carbonation, but a great mild burnt malt bready aroma. Good mouthfeel, you can chew on this one. Chocolate malt taste. Has a dry clean finish .

Pours a hair below pitch black. Nice darker tan head. Nose is of heavily roasted malts. Flavor is smoked and roasted malts. Very robust and deep and uncompromising. Even though it is nice and hearty, it seems a bit one dimensional. Kind of like it is all muscle and no grace. Feel has a good carbonation to it and the liquid is fairly thick. Overall this is a pretty rich and deep stout. No mass of complexity, but definitely deep enough that you might want to put your floaties on before diving in.

Poured a black with no head. Has any amazing taste of burnt malts, chocolate, vanilla. Coffee stands out a lot. Finishes with not a lot of carbonation.

Date: 07/21/1996
Mode: Bottle
Source: Chevy Chase, DC

Appearance: black with a whispy tan head,
Aroma: sweet roasted malt aroma,
Body: good body,
Flavor: strong roasted chocolate flavor that leads to a slight bitter aftertaste

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.7/5.0
Score: *4
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The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

12-ounce. Thanks, BitBucket! Pours nearly-opaque black with thickish moussy tan head. Nice chocolate and roast nose, along with the tiniest bit of sour milk. Creamy body, soft carb, rich chocolate and roast flavors forward on the attack and persisting through the mid-palate. Clean, easy-drinking, despite being creamy. Clingy roasty finish. Nice stuff all the way through.

12 oz. bottle. Pours black with a small creamy tan head that disappears to a small ring. The aroma is mocha and molasses. The flavor is roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, and molasses. Medium/full bodied and smooth drinking. This is a bit better than advertised IMO.

Bottle. A random grab that turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. It has a oil black color with a thin dark chocolate head. The aroma was a bit strange - smelled of pine resin and heavy on the fruit such as grapes. Flavor worked better - a toned down piney, grape taste that gives way to roasted coffee aftertaste.

12 oz. bottle - jet black with slight tan head; pleasant roasted coffee aromas lead to burnt, yet smooth flavors; oh so smooth and would certainly classify as another "hit" from Mad River