Mad River Steelhead Extra Stout

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

Serve in English pint

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UPDATED: MAR 2, 2011 Deep ebony. Gentle pour produces a healthy caramel cap of foam. Rich espresso, cocoa, and burnt malt-hull aromatics are dotted with notes of phenols, vanilla and plum. Fluffy and expressive carbonation. Airy and cottony roast links up with snug char and a surge of tarry espresso and dry cocoa. Bright burst of plum heightens drinkability as it beautifully offsets the dryness and brasher roast elements, further deepening the luscious milk chocolate and butter toffee malt underbelly. Alcohol warmth is felt slightly in the belly, but is masterfully cloaked. Perceptible char-derived acidity remains subtle enough so as not to not blemish the rich, well-layered malt. Silky yet slightly ashy finish graces a late smoky espresso flourish. Not much to complain about here. A rich, focused, and nicely balanced "bigger" stout.

Pours a basically black color with a medium head and good lace.

The beer is particularly aromatic. Chocolatly with some mild ashiness and berries. The mild but troublesome character of cardboard is present in the aroma.

The flavor is very roasty to the point of being ashy. The beer is nicely bitter and has a lot of chocolate without sacrificing a good deal of dryness.

This is pretty nice beer but it’s a touch short of greatness, I can’t imagine that this isn’t freshest as I bought this about the moment they started selling it on the Des Moines market, but I want to think that the beer would be significantly better at source.

Pours very dark, almost black, with a tan head. Aroma of malts and coffee. Taste is rich and well balanced, hints of chocolate. Very nice and quite drinkable. Thumbs up.

A delightful surprise from this brewery! Spot on for this style and very delicious.

Bottle at Casanova Beer Cave festival. Very dark pour with a brown head. Nose and taste were roasty, coffee, and chocolate. Very good.

Nice dark brown/black with a dark brown head. Aroma is roasted malt/caramel/molasses/coffee. Taste is slightly sweet toasted malt/coffee. Medium-light mouthfeel. Very tasty.

Black as black with a tan brown light head,quickly decending. Aroma is roasty coffee chocolate light sweet malt/bread. maybe some carmel/butter. A pleasant refreshing scent though.Kinda like fresh air. The description for this is pretty spot on, this is a nice stout, its rich malty robust smoooth but balanced not harsh with a good roasty mild coffe chocolate lingering. Maybe some mild dark fruit berry notes. Its not heavily coffee but remindes me of a really good coffee though.very nice dark malt character to this.Not many times i drink a stout and think of ice cream but i bet this would be really good with it.

Tap: Jet black with a tan head and spotty lacing. Aromas of sweet coffee and malts. It has a thick feel with a sweet taste like flavored coffee. Yum.

Bottle, this stout had a black pour and made a one finger tan colored head, this beer was too dark to see through but a I could see a few bubbles floating up at the sides of the glass, this beer left some spots and fingers of lacing on the glass, there was a little sediment on the bottom of the bottle that loosened up a bit and was carried off when poured, this beer had aromas of chocolate with a little chocolate sweetness, roasted malt, a little roasted coffee, faint licorice was in the background, and there was a little brown sugar and molasses sweetness on the nose, the flavors were roasted malt with some coffee and chocolate, a little licorice in the background, there was little if any hop bitterness or any malt bitterness after the finish, the mouth feel was medium with some nice creaminess on the palate, a nice stout, had a little sweetness that I like in a stout, I think this drink is on the sweeter side of a stout beer.

Thanks for sharing, bro! Pours black with a thin mocha head which fades quickly and leaves a few streaks of lacing on the glass. Aroma is chocolate, charred coffee, and light vanilla. Taste is much the same. Very good flavors and incredibly balanced. A sessionable stout!

Bottle. Pours super dark brown, opaque in the glass, with a small creamy brown head. The aromas are sweet, roasty coffee and cocoa, toffee, caramel, and faint earthy bark and dirt. The flavor is sweet chocolate, bitter coffee grounds, and cocoa. The finish is sweet milk chocolate with lactose and mocha. Medium carbonation, full-bodied, creamy, rich, and dry. Very pleasant; delicious. [990]