Brewery: Mendocino Brewing Company
Beer: White Hawk Select IPA
Style: English-Style IPA
ABV: 7.0%%
Character: Brewed with American West Coast Cascade Hops and English Fuggle Hops. This combination makes for a truly authentic English flavor.
Metal Connection: FREEDOM HAWK – Indian Summer
For years I have had the pleasure of having different beers made by Mendocino Brewing Company, the brewery with the birds on their labels. This is my first time having one of their beers since the creation of this website, though.
Still in Dallas at this point, so using my Texas Frightmare pint glass one more time. The beer poured a hazy copper color with a finger wide off white foamy head which had good retention, leaving a nice lacing down the glass. There is a good amount of carbonation bubbles rising in this beer. Good looking beer.
The aroma of this beer is very refreshing. It has a caramel with a bit of a biscuit smell with a light layer of citrus, almost orange peel aroma to it.
The taste is well balanced, nothing is overpowering here. The hops are definitely present, as they should be, giving this beer a citrus hop flavor, especially at the end of the drink, and in the aftertaste. There is a backbone of caramel, bread-like flavors which compliment the hops very well here. As i said, not one flavor is overpowering the next. They are all side by side, hitting your palate all at once but for me the hops just linger a bit more in the throat. It’s not too bitter either.
The body is of medium thickness with a slight carbonation bite. Overall this beer has a crisp mouthfeel with a dry finish.
Mendocino Brewing Company makes some pretty good beers, and they are pretty basic, and to the point. They don’t need to add a bunch of things to attract you to their beer. For the years I have seen them on the shelves it’s been the same. They have been known to me as the brewery with the birds on the labels, as I said earlier. This English-Style IPA is definitely that, and is not an overly hop flavored IPA like a lot of American IPAs. I am a hop head, so trust me, I am not saying anything bad about other IPAs, I am just saying that this beer is well balanced in aromas and flavors, so please do not hate on it, or judge it because it is not full of hop character. Take it for what it is, and enjoy it! I know I did, and I will have another when I can get my hands on it!
Musically I searched for a band that had the word Hawk in the name, and I came across this Stoner/Doom band from Virginia called FREEDOM HAWK. These guys have been around since 2005, and have three full length albums out. Their latest is called Holding On, and they have a video clip for their song “Indian Summer,” which I featured here for you. Please check out this band, and enjoy their music!
Horns & Hops, BeerMetalDude!
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