Beer of the Weekend #435: Steelhead Extra Pale Ale
The beer of the weekend is Steelhead Extra Pale Ale, brewed by the Mad River Brewing Company of Blue Lake, California.
It has been a long time since I had a Mad River brew — since my last month in SoCal, that is. Mad River stuff has been available in IC for a while but I never paid much attention to it because I thought I tried most of it. Nope. The only Mad River beers I tried were Steelhead Extra Stout (#50), Jamaica Red Ale (#136), and The Mad Belgian Pale Ale (#141). So tonight I thought, “Why not?” It is high time I picked up where I left off in California.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. No freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is light gold. One finger of eggshell-colored head left an even lacing that eventually turned spotted.
Smell: Well-balanced between pale malts and grassy/earthy hops. There is a touch of grapefruit, orange, lemon, and lime. The hops remind me of one of Mikkeller’s single-hop series beers, but I cannot remember which. D’oh! There is also a little candy caramel sweetness and toffee. Reminds me of a British pale ale.
Taste: Nice mouthfeel, but the flavors are on the lighter side. Pale malts, light caramel and toffee, grassy/earthy hops, and light hop citrus.
Drinkability: This is essentially light pale ale. I have no problem with it, either. I was just expecting a different emphasis regarding "extra" (extra pale ale, not extra pale ale). Very smooth and easy drinking.
Fun facts about SEPA:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American Pale Ale.”
-Price: $10.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.6 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: The Mad River website suggests “poultry, fish/sushi & spicy foods.”
-The bottles feature a yellow, redemption sticker from the local distributor (Johnson Brothers) and I was unsure why until I looked closely at the label: for some reason, it does not include Iowa in the list of five-cent redemption states. Weird.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
It has been a long time since I had a Mad River brew — since my last month in SoCal, that is. Mad River stuff has been available in IC for a while but I never paid much attention to it because I thought I tried most of it. Nope. The only Mad River beers I tried were Steelhead Extra Stout (#50), Jamaica Red Ale (#136), and The Mad Belgian Pale Ale (#141). So tonight I thought, “Why not?” It is high time I picked up where I left off in California.
Serving type: 12-ounce bottle. No freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is light gold. One finger of eggshell-colored head left an even lacing that eventually turned spotted.
Smell: Well-balanced between pale malts and grassy/earthy hops. There is a touch of grapefruit, orange, lemon, and lime. The hops remind me of one of Mikkeller’s single-hop series beers, but I cannot remember which. D’oh! There is also a little candy caramel sweetness and toffee. Reminds me of a British pale ale.
Taste: Nice mouthfeel, but the flavors are on the lighter side. Pale malts, light caramel and toffee, grassy/earthy hops, and light hop citrus.
Drinkability: This is essentially light pale ale. I have no problem with it, either. I was just expecting a different emphasis regarding "extra" (extra pale ale, not extra pale ale). Very smooth and easy drinking.
Fun facts about SEPA:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American Pale Ale.”
-Price: $10.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5.6 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: The Mad River website suggests “poultry, fish/sushi & spicy foods.”
-The bottles feature a yellow, redemption sticker from the local distributor (Johnson Brothers) and I was unsure why until I looked closely at the label: for some reason, it does not include Iowa in the list of five-cent redemption states. Weird.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
