12oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Interesting as I found this beer more substantial than the Weyerbacher Blanche that I drank alongside it - I was expecting the opposite to be true. Mendocino has a habit of producing so fairly average (if solid) beers, followed by the occasional really good one. For me, the White Ale was one of the better efforts. Pour was a murky, slightly orange affair with a solid head with good retention and lace. The beer looked solid in the Southampton Weizen...
Notes on beers brewed by
Mendocino Brewing Company
Special Edition – Bock Beer
12oz single from Total Wine, Kennesaw, GA, USA. Amber pour with a tasty looking head and some chill haze. Not much lace. Head fades quickly though. Nose has a lot of sweet malts which is an excellent sign for the style. Really tasty and malty upfront tastes as one would expect. There is a little residual bitterness in the finish which is an interesting departure. Alcohol provides a small kick too. All in all a very nice beer which is very much in style and in that respect it pleases me.
Special Edition – Imperial IPA
12oz bottle from a six pack. Light orange pour with a slight haze about it. Mild carbonation. Half inch head that is nice and dense, Some decent lace and retention. Fresh, zesty hoppy nose. Mild bitterness on the tongue, and to be honest for the style this is pretty tame - I like it because it is balanced with good malt sweetness. Lingering honey like syrup, a nice package. Hops cut in at the finish with a gentle bite. Well balanced and drinkable. Another decent Winter Seasonal from these folks.
Red Tail Lager
Single from Michaels. Light amber pour with a strange combo of great clarity at the bottom of the glass, but surprising cloudiness at the top. Odd. Head is scant, lace is nowhere to be seen. Mild whisky notes, very smooth, quite drinkable. Strangely this has a liquor based taste, a little oak, a little vanilla and really quite tasty and sweet. Surprisingly rich. Has an English Pale Ale feel about it. Odd beer. If anything reminded me of an old ale or a vanilla or oaked beer! Very perculiar.
Red Tail Ale
Picked up as a single at Jax, Sandy Springs, Atlanta, GA, USA. Not sure of price. Fairly lifeless pour without significant carbonation, head or retention. Light amber pour, muted aroma and similar attributes in the tastes. Slightly dry, flavor is low but non-offensive with very mild malt and hop character. Body is average and reflects the beer as a whole. A simple offering (good), but in a style that is difficult to get enthusiastic about. The kind of beer you could drink with pizza and not...
Winter Ale Special Edition 2006-07
12 oz single, Mac's downtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Having had the 05-06 Winter offering and really enjoyed it, I was keen to get hold of this. Not my favorite style, so I was equally delighted to find it as a single at Mac's (saved me buying the full sixer). Drinks well below the % ABV. A nice black pour with decent head and lacing. Standard aromas, but the taste was really quite smoky. I wasn't expecting such a smoke intense flavor, it was really surprising. The usual coffee/grain/chocolate...
Eye of the Hawk
12 oz single from Mac's downtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Light color for the style, with a nice amber/orange body and some decent head. The lacing is there but scant and loose. Some sweet malts and some ethanol in the nose. Lots of sweet caramel malts in the taste with a little toffee, and the alcohol is low key - until the finish, when there is a blast of EtOH again. Hops are surprisingly muted for me, with the alcohol replacing the bitterness that I was expecting. I quite like this beer, although...
Blue Heron Pale Ale
12 oz single from Mac's, Atlanta, GA, USA. Hazy, lemon colored pour with (as others have mentioned in their reviews) perhaps a light tinge or hint of green - an odd color indeed. Creamy, piled high head with some pretty nice lacing. Appearance is nice. Aroma - clean hops, quite astrigent. As is typical for an American IPA, this is very hoppy to the point of being soap like. Very pronounced bitterness and drying, lingering aftertaste. A pretty good example of the style, but a little too...
Black Hawk Stout
To me this a much more traditional stout than many of the more modern representations out there. A black pour with hints of brown too, there is a distinct smoky aroma present. Good head and nice lacing. Tastes are on the dry side of things with some burnt malt character and a really good astringent hop bite. Not "hoppy" hops as such, but dry and bitter - the kind of stout my Dad would have enjoyed drinking. Dry and short finish, this is an old-time stout where double this and uber that have...
Black Eye Ale
Surprisingly enjoyable. I am definitely not a fan of Black & Tan's, or indeed blended beers in general, but this was very nice. Very dark pour with a small head and some lacing. This nothing if not extremely malty. A lot of creaminess and a very sweet and tasty experience. Reminded me of a creamy Porter - something like St. Peter's, or even like a creamy Brown Ale. Some very, very mild bitterness in the finish, but very little - a creamy, weak coffee. 22 oz bomber @ $2.99 represents very good...
Talon – True Style Barley Wine Ale
Like many Barley Wines, respect is required, and if you give the brew its proper due you will be rewarded. A dense red pour, with plenty of viscosity and thick aroma. All that you would expect from a high ABV beast, some lovely "legs" in the glass to give a wine tasters analogy and plenty of upfront alcohol. There are dense fruits that dominate the initial flavors but this doesn't last long. After that I get plenty of alcohol and a syrupy but drinkable concoction associated with this type of...
White Hawk Original IPA
$5.79 Six Pack, Greens Beverage, Ponce de Leon, Atlanta, GA, USA. Subsequently 12 oz single from Mac's downtown, Atlanta, GA, USA. Light colored IPA with a nice looking, frothy head and some lacing. As expected for the IPA style, the citric hops are up front in both the aroma and the taste, and there is a surprisingly clean bitterness to this beer. Smooth and decent size mouthfeel add to the authenticity of the brew - it tastes and feels like REAL beer! The 7.00% ABV gives it a little kick...