Mad River Brewing Co. Steelhead Double India Pale Ale
Today was kind of a stressful day, and after the stressful part of my day was over I decided to conduct a little shopping therapy to assuage my aching head. So I stopped by our local shop and wandered the wine aisles, looking longingly at California Zinfandels (I’ve been reading an (transcribed) oral history of Paul Draper and Ridge Vineyards), a couple of Italian wines, and then circling through the beer selection.
Nothing totally spoke to me, until I ran across the Mad River Brewing Company beers and remembered how interested I’d been in trying a couple of their offerings, specifically the Steelhead Double India Pale Ale and the Mad River Jamaica Red Ale. That was before winter really arrived, at which point beer almost completely left my thoughts, replaced by wine and brown liquors. But, now the time seemed right to try something of theirs. The Red Ale bottles had a pretty thick layer of dust on them, and so I decided to give the Steelhead a whirl.
I’ve been thinking recently about the East-West divide regarding hops and beer. I’m not just talking about IPAs, but also Pale Ales, Red Ales/Ambers, Stouts, and even Barleywines. I believe there is a stark, definitive contrast between the way these styles are brewed on the East coast versus the West coast. Essentially it comes down to the role that hops play in these beers. West coast brewers have embraced hops, heart and soul. Stone, Russian River, Green Flash, Lagunitas, Alesmith, and others brew beers that are unabashedly, assertively hoppy. These brewers wholeheartedly put hops front-and-center throughout the majority their offerings.
Take Stone for instance. It’s not just their Ruination IPA that is rife with hops, but also their regular IPA, their Pale Ale, Arrogant Bastard, Levitation Ale, most of their special offerings such as the annual vertical releases, and even their Russian Imperial Stout. Russian River Brewing not only created the massively, crazily hoppy Pliny The Elder (perennially considered one of the best Double IPAs out there), but they then sought to top that by creating Pliny The Younger which raised the bar even further. Both beers are odes to the hop, giving it full, unadulterated expression in the nose, the palate, and the finish.
East coast brewers on the other hand continue to brew beers that largely herald from, and still stay relatiely true to, traditional English beer styles. Their ales generally give greater prominence to malt and yeast characteristics, with the hops being kept in check playing a supporting role. Even when it comes to IPAs it is rare to find any that are overtly hoppy. And when they are, as with Troegs’ Nugget Nectar or Samuel Adams Imperial Hallertau Pilsner, the hop varieties used are of the earthy spicy variety. This contrasts starkly with the utter dominance of pine and citrus flavored hops used out West (Sierra Nevada has actually taken this to one of its logical conclusions by leading the development of new hop that is being called the “Citra” hop). Because brewing on the East coast, and in New England in particular, is historically derived from English styles, ESBs and Brown Ales are common offerings here, whereas throughout the rest of the country these two styles are much less common. It is also one of the reasons why the beers brewed here tend to givve much less prominence to hops than those brewed on the West coast, where no such brewing tradition existed (it would be interesting to look more closely at the correlation between how this approach, largely based on a lack of as defined a history as other parts of the world, has manifested itself in both the region’s beer and wine industries – both of whom are renowned for inventing, or re-inventing, styles ad nauseum).
Additionally, West coast brewers have always had ready access to copious amounts of hops grown in California, Oregon, and Washington, whereas hops have not been grown in any significant amounts on the East coast in over a century. As a case in point, Sierra Nevada owns nearly all of the acres of the new Citra hop (totalling about 3 acres), along with owning acreage of several other hop varieties. This is largely possible due to their geographic proximity to prime hop-growing areas. This too has played an important role in why hops are treated so differently by brewers on the two coasts.
But the most important reason, is that for too long brewing on the East coast, and in New England in particular, has been boring and new breweries have rarely sought to break the mold. Brewers have been reluctant to try new styles, to challenge the palates of consumers, to go out on a limb. In contrast, brewers on the West coast have created new beer styles and pioneered new takes on old styles. Essentially, these two brewing cultures are worlds apart in terms of the approach they are taking and what they are trying to achieve. And to a certain extent, each of them is brewing for a wholly different audience.
Now, just to be clear, I realize full well that this is a generalization. Brewers on both coasts are challenging the generalities that I am drawing up here (Dogfish Head being the obvious counter argument). But my argument remains sound: there is, generally speaking, a great divide between these two brewing cultures, East and West coasts. And from my perspective, it’s a shame, and consumers are the ones suffering the most. I want there to be at least one brewer in New England brewing, as part of their regular lineup, a great, hoppy, IPA. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
This coastal divide was a large part of what made me so interested in trying the Mad River Steelhead Double IPA. I’d been seeing it in shops and saw that it was from Blue Lake, CA, not too far from Chico, home of Sierra Nevada. Then I went to their website and saw that they used images of hops as graphics all over the place, a good sign. The reviews of the beers were good, and so I decided to dive in.
Now I can say with confidence that Mad River Brewing Company should be added to the list of California breweries producing good, overtly hoppy beers. The Steelhead is brewed to an original gravity of 1.080, with a final gravity of 1.014, resulting in 8.6% alcohol, alongside 85 IBUs. No indication of what hop varieties they use.
The beer appears amber gold and is slightly hazy with a small amount of sediment as a result of the beer being unfiltered. The head has a creamy look and a small layer sticks around throughout. The nose is loaded with pine and citrus hop aromas, with pine notes taking the upper hand. Hints of caramel, malt, and wheat lurk around the edges of the nose. Pine and resin hop flavors hit your palate first, followed by a brief moment of caramel and malt sweetness, which quickly gives way to another wave of hop piney flavors. Hops provide bitterness from start-to-finish and do not contribute nearly as much hop flavor. The body is surprisingly light for that 8.6%. The finish is made up entirely of hop resins that linger for a good length of time.
All in all, this beer is not really balanced at all – hop flavors and bitterness dominate and other flavors have only a brief showing. I’m ok with this, but this is definitely a beer for people who love hops. And to return to my theme, this is the kind of beer that East coast brewers, and New England brewers in particular, really just aren’t brewing enough of. Beers like this are too rare out here.
I’m not sure anymore that I’m that much of a minority as someone who really loves hoppy beers, in many cases the hoppier the better. Hoppy beers are increasingly common – just not from brewers out this way. But I’ll never forget going into one of the Lucky Labrador brewpubs in Portland, Oregon and seeing that they had 3 (!) IPAs on tap. Three. No really, three. Now that is exciting.
Note: one of my ultimate goals is to one day try the Russian River Brewing Pliny The Elder Double IPA and Blind Pig IPA in bottles. I’ve had the chance to try Pliny The Elder on draft a couple of years ago, I have never been able to try the Blind Pig, or either since they came out in bottle about a year ago. From all accounts they are the exact type of beer that I have come to enjoy so much – beers that are unequivocally, unapologetically hoppy. Now that they’re in bottle, I’m hoping against hope to one day get my hands on a couple so that I can give them a whirl. Here’s to having patience!
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