Mendocino Winter Seasonal Imperial IPA

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Hopland, California USA

This poured a bright orange color with a big fluffy white head. Aroma was pungeant piney and grapefruit hops, some apricot in there as well, also some bready notes. Flavor was terrifically balance toasted malts to keep the bitterness in check, but with a great resinous hoppy taste. This definately exceeded my expectations.

Poured a clear orange/amber with a tall creamy light tan head. There was a nice amount of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. A strong grapefruit aroma was detected immediately. There was a strong hop bite right away with flavors of grapefruit and pine and some sweet malt backbone underneath. The finish was of a good hop bitterness that lasted a long time on the back of the throat. The head left a light lacing all through the glass. Very good beer full of good hop character.

This ipa definitely has a malty backbone but certainly some nice bitter and resin-like hop aftertaste. Its certainly more of an east coast ipa in that its not as hoppy but overall more balanced. The color is a dark orange and it leaves a very nice aftertaste. Its nothing crazy like most double ipas out there but it certainly is a nice addition.

Bottle. Pours a clear, amber color with a sparse, frothy white head. Lacing is a bit weak. Aromas of all hops and more hops, hints of grapefruit and a touch of malt. Mouthfeel is very smooth to start, then gets a bit lively toward the end. Slick finish. Flavors of grapefruit, citrus, and some malts. The more I drank this beer, the better it became. I think it may need to age a bit and could be a great beer.

Bright, citrus-sour grapefruit west coast hop aroma. Clear, rusty, orange-brown, with a three-finger oatmeal head in a pint glass. Bad label. Tastes about like it smells, like grapefruit juice with a bit of wood and toast. Medium body. Citrus finish. I’m waiting for the AIPA craze to pass... New Leaf Market.

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

Aroma: The aroma is a nice mix of peach and grapefruit hops with some sweet malts as well
Appearance: It pours a hazy burnt orange color with a fluffy and lasting white head and lots of lace on the glass
Flavor: It has a flavor of citrus and pine hops with sweet malts and alcohol, all mixed together
Palate: The body is medium-full with a somewhat dry, sticky mouthfeel, a relatively long duration, and a mild alcohol feel
Overall Impression: I thought this was a pretty decent example of the IIPA style. A well-made brew with a nice body and flavor that just works pretty well. Not super complicated, but pretty good none-the-less.

Great aroma of grapefruit and flowery hops. Very light mouthfeel that’s soft and fluffy but leaves a major impression on and after the swallow. Decent hops that are a bit perfumey, but overall I liked the hop profile on this one. Nice beer.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a small sized head of foamy finely sized off-white colored bubbles that were mostly lasting and left behind a typically carbonated light copper brown colored body and a fair lacing. The nice aroma was deeply hoppy. The thick mouth feel was tingly at the start and strongly tingly at the finish hoppy aftertaste. The nice flavor contained notes of hops and caramel. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.