Mendocino Winter Seasonal Imperial IPA

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

Golden amber color with one finger head. Rich flowery hops on thenose with good spice and citrus. Flavor is rich and bitter with good sweetness. Very nice DIPA

nice fruity slightly sweet aroma with a nice half inch of thick frothy head - orange copper pour - very malty and pound you in the tastebuds fruity hops with a strong punchy bittering agent - low alcohol presence for the style

Props to brother Bob for this gift basket stocking stuffer... perfumy esters to the pour--a surprisingly strong , flowery fragrance--and overwhelming spruce hops produce as unique an IPA scent as I’ve sniffed... beautiful, stately, slow-rising effervescence that curves with the snifter; thick white head that melds with its reddish-orange body... sweeping cirrus lacing as the glass drains... soft, warming, thickly cream palate... active mouthfeel but balanced and somewhat mellowing... intense kick of hops at the throat and a lingering cascade at the finish... hops are a bit sour and intense...surprisingly rewarding (the "double" in anything often blinds the brewer of his sensibility) and nonabrasive, with its Christmas tree effect subdued and its character presented with dignity...

Looks like a slightly darker pale lager. Has a thin creamy looking alabaster head. Aroma is medium hoppy. Taste is strong IPA but does not really approach the level of a good IIPA. Big bitter sensation builds on the back of my throat. Decent carbonation for a DIPA. Seems to hide the 7.5% alky fairly well. Terrible medicinal linger, seems to last forever. On style for an IPA but not quite for a DIPA.

12 oz bottle from a Winter Beer 10 Pack purchased at World Market for me by my wife. Pour is clear golden amber (really, it is) with nice swirling settling that builds up a thick one inch off white head. Decent lacing. Aroma of grassy citrus orange and malty resins. Not blow you away fresh, but clean and nice. Taste is more the sweet caramel malt than the citrus (more grapefruit than orange) and resin hops, but they are both present, and nicely balanced. Nice bitterness. A bit of a smoky burnt taste to the finish which was pleasant, and unique. Palate is medium, carbonated and slick. Alcohol is evident in the relatively long finish, which detracted a bit. Much boozier than I would have expected for 7.5. Overall, nice drinkable IIPA.

Golden amber body with a thin white head. Despite the lightness of the head, some good lacing occurs. The aroma is a bit light for an IPA. Sweet malt, alcohol, and some grapefruit. Very robust brew. Heavy and a bit oily on the palate. The flavor starts a bit sweet with caramel notes. Then the hops take change. Pine and grapefruit abound. Finishes bitter with just a touch of alcohol aftertaste. A pretty good IPA.

Bottled. An amber beer with a thin off-white head. The aroma is sweet malty with light notes of alcohol, grapefruit, and Cascade hops. The flavor is sweet malty with notes of grapefruit, leading to a bitter finish.

Pours with very little carbonation. Amber Orange in color with very little pine and some bread in the nose. Medium palate Taste is piny with a decent caramel, malty backbone. Not quite sure why it’s called an Imperial although it’s pretty decent for what it is.