12 oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Gusher from the bottle that leads to an ugly pour. Murky reddish brown with large specks of yeast floaties in huge quantities. This beer is obviously struggling through either an excess of bottle-conditioning, the lack of filtration or some other final stage issues.
Given the amount of foam that gushes from the bottle, the head and lace a woefully disappointing.
Nose and tastes give an overly aggressive bitter, hop note that tastes like an American Barleywine or DIPA gone wrong. It tastes something like an Arrogant Bastard clone that was made by a poorly skilled homebrewer. Odd aftertaste too. Odd mouthfeel comes with the excessive carbonation of the body.
This may be my first beer from Mad River and it’s a very poor introduction. Lack of balance, huge, nondescript poorly managed flavors, and the suspicion of some kind of inability to package the beer correctly. Off-flavors of hop soaked cardboard as well.
Nasty.