Mendocino - Black Hawk Stout

Dead Soldier

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Black Hawk Stout

Mendocino Brewing Company

1601 Airport Road

Ukiah, CA USA

Est. 1983

www.mendobrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.2 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Deep, near black color with ruby highlights when held up to light.

Roasted malts and chocolate notes shine through.

Caramel colored, creamy, two finger head that covers nearly to the end of the glass.

Moderate carbonation.

Nice amount of stringy lacing on glass.

Clean taste has chocolate and roast malt with hints of roasted nuttines.

Medium bodied with a clean and dry finish. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 

Let's get the pun out of the way. Black Hawk Down! Yeah, it went down alright from creamy head start to clean dry finish. The light complexity of roasted malt and chocolate notes, along with the nuttiness made for a very pleasant brew. This is an unusually crisp Stout.

An easy quaff at 5.2%ABV, so if you're a Stout lover, this is certainly for you. Once this bird is on your arm, you'll want to remember to remove the hood before drinking.

Mendocino - Blue Heron Pale Ale

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Blue Heron Pale Ale

Mendocino Brewing Company

1601 Airport Road

Ukiah, CA USA

(Saratoga Springs, NY)

Est. 1983

www.mendobrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.1 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Amber golden color with very slight haze.

Yeasty smell.

Off-white head that covers nearly to the end of the glass.

Moderate carbonation.

Nice amount of stringy lacing on glass.

Crisp taste with light malts and nice hops finish.

Light bodied and easy to drink. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 

Another in the "birds of prey" beers by Mendocino. This pale ale is an easy to drink brew. Must be the great ingredients listed from their website such as the premium two-row Pale malted barley and two types of hops; Cluster, used for bittering and Cascade, used for the finishing.


This magnificent bird of prey (the Blue Heron) is found right here in Florida, in great abundance. We are also home to the White Heron variety. Both species frequently drop into the back yard of the crypt, usually with a fish in their beak, caught from the nearby lake.  Next time one stops by, I will reach in the fridge for one of these, Salute!

Mendocino - Red Tail Ale

Dead Soldier

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Red Tail Ale

Mendocino Brewing Company

1601 Airport Road

Ukiah, CA USA

(Saratoga Springs, NY)

Est. 1983

www.mendobrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.1 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Copper color.
Sweet malt notes with some hops detected.
Off-white one and a half finger head.
Lacing present until the bottom of the glass.
Medium amount of carbonation.
Sweet malt up front that changes mid sip to expose hops bittering.
Medium body. Enjoyable and easy to drink. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
This amber ale begins sweet and then shows a lightly bitter finish. Simple ingredients appear to do their best in this beer. It is right down the middle of the style and this produces full malt flavors with the balanced amount of bittering hops.The only thing out of the ordinary is a honey flavor on the aftertaste. But this is well received by my tongue.  The flavors are mild, the beer is extremely drinkable and overall, it is a solid amber ale.

I'm really getting into how the series of their beers are all done in a "birds of prey" motif. This one obviously named after the Red Tailed Hawk, is depicted beautifully as are all their bottle labels.

Mendocino - Black Hawk Stout

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Black Hawk Stout

Mendocino Brewing Company

1601 Airport Road

Ukiah, CA USA

(Saratoga Springs, NY)

Est. 1983

www.mendobrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.2 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Near black color.

Chocolate malt and roasted malt aromas up front.

One finger of tan head that leaves minimal lacing and dissipates fairly rapidly.

Moderately carbonated.

Tastes similar to the aroma but with more emphasis on the roasted malts. Bittering hops finish it off.. 

Medium to light in body. Finishes nicely on the dry side. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 

Got this beer on a trip out west, but by the time I got back home the Medocino line was appearing in our big box wine/liquor/beer stores. Good news is, I will get to try it again in the future.  There's a bit of a conflict for me, but not with the ale. It has more to do with the origination. The company is out of Ukiah, California, but the label states that it is bottled in Saratoga Springs, NY. That's not the first time I've seen a west coast beer company utilize an east coast brewery. (Think Shmaltz.)

Though it is a bit unusual of a stout in charachteristics, it was good - very enjoyable. I have several of their other style beers for review, so it will be interesting to see what those are like. I believe I met a rep from this brewery in Boulder last November though his name escapes me. I also follow one of their brewers on Twitter. If you are either one of these fellows and happen to read this, please post a reply. I'd like to know the east coast - west coast connection.