4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., Stout - Imperial, USA

Stone Americano Stout

Monday, 14 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 8.7%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 65 IBUs. Hops – Amarillo, Cascade, Chinook and Columbus. A decidedly American Imperial Stout with espresso.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The coffee notes in Stone Americano Stout are bold, rich and full of American swagger. We incorporated a mother lode of artisanal espresso beans into the mash and added in Columbus, Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade hops to invigorate the coffee taste with a slight citrus and resin hop presence.

Coffee roasting, like artisanal brewing, has risen to be a true art form in recent decades. Techniques that blend art, science and ingenuity have allowed roasters to create coffees that offer incredible depth, complexity and nuance. When it came to selecting our coffee, we chose San Diego roasters Ryan Bros. Coffee. These are the same guys who contributed their art to our sought-after 2013 Stone ESPRESSO Imperial Russian Stout. Their fantastic espresso helped us achieve the perfect match to our beer, one that’s certain to satisfy your coffee fixation. Rest assured… not a single decaf bean was used in the process.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on 22nd January 2016 date. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured an extremely dark brown with a one finger tanned head that had good retention and left only a little lacing.
Aroma: Strong espresso aromas and sweet chocolate/mocha with a hint of cinnamon and coconut.
Taste: Espresso and dark chocolate. There was a bit of sweetness midway through, but the finish was a nice long lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Mid to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: A nice Imperial Stout with coffee that has a wonderful lasting bitter finish. I think my one gripe is that it was not as full bodied as it could have been.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

Saturday, 12 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs.

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Pineapple Sculpin IPA came from one of many small-batch cask experiments to enhance the flavor of our signature IPA. With so many tropical hop notes in Sculpin, how could we not try adding some sweet, juicy pineapple? The combination of fruity flavors and hop intensity definitely packs a punch.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.87
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 16036, meaning it was bottled on 5th February 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a fluffy two finger white head that has good retention and leaves thick puffy lacing.
Aroma: Pineapple juice, sliced pineapple and a touch of mandarin.
Taste: The pineapple is there, but unlike how prominent it was in the aroma, it was pretty light and only in the background. Instead, I got mainly pine and grassy hop bitterness followed by a hint of pineapple.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: I loved the pineapple aromas coming from this beer. However, flavour wise, I like my pineapple’s sweet, so I think this may have been a problem when trying to incorporate pineapple flavours into an IPA. In this case, even the lightness of the pineapple doesn’t seem to blend in too well with the bitterness and just confuses my pallet. It just didn’t match up to the original Sculpin which was nicely tropical nor the Grapefruit Sculpin where the grapefruit matches well with the hop bitterness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Pataskala Red X IPA

Saturday, 12 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.3%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 75 IBUs. Malts – Red X. Hops – Amarillo, Cascade and Mosaic.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Pat-ASK-ala? Pata-SKALA? Pa-TASK-a-la? While those in the know favor the third pronunciation, no matter how you say it, this is a unique red IPA. The beer was first brewed in September 2015 to support music and arts education programs in Pataskala, Ohio, where Stone co-founder Greg Koch grew up. People there loved it, so we added the beer to our seasonal lineup, and the Pataskala name stuck. The deep crimson hue is courtesy of a fairly new special German malt variety by BESTMALZ called Red X. Appearances, however, only tell so much. Heavily dry-hopped with Mosaic, Cascade and Amarillo hops, the beer is incredibly citrus-forward, rounded out by notes of biscuit and toffee from the malt bill. The result is evocative of red IPAs yet different. And as luck – or perhaps skill is the more appropriate word, to give our brewing team their due – would have it, it’s quite wonderful. We think you’ll find this unusual red IPA to be quite deliciously satisfying, no matter how you choose to pronounce it.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.64
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on date of 1st December 2016 and enjoy by date of 10th September 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear deep ruby crimson red colour with a big three finger puffy tanned head that had pretty good retention and nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruit aromas with mango, passion fruit and peach leading the way. Some orange, pine and lemon creep in towards the end.
Taste: Wow, sweet sweet candy orange (think orange gummy bears), followed by some biscuit malt before finishing with bitter grapefruit, citrus zest and pine.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied and medium carbonation.
Overall: I really liked its appearance and aroma, but taste wise, it was too sweet for me at the beginning. The bitter finish was nice but could not cover the over sweetness at the start.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Deschutes Brewery, USA

Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

Friday, 11 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: 40 IBUs. Malts – Pale, Crystal, Carapils and Munich. Hops – Cascade.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Floral, citrus and caramel notes. Balanced with the beautiful simplicity of the Cascade hop.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 12th May 2016. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper colour with a two finger off white head that dissipated quickly but left nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Sweet caramel and bready malts with some pineapple, apple, grapefruit and pine.
Taste: Mainly pine with light biscuit malt and light caramel. Citrus is there but fairly restrained. Finish is lightly bitter and spicy.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with mid to high prickly carbonation.
Overall: This was just ok for me. Everything was just quite light and the flavours felt lacking.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Blonde Ale, Beer Reviews, Deschutes Brewery, USA

Deschutes River Ale

Thursday, 10 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 3.9%
Style: American Blonde Ale
Other Notes: 28 IBUs. Malts – Pale, Munich, Carapils and Crystal. Hops – Cascade, Crystal and Nugget.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Crisp sessionable and undeniably refreshing.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.57
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 19th April 2016. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden copper colour with a one finger slightly off white head that dissipates quickly leaving only a little lacing.
Aroma: Bready and biscuit malt with a hint of caramel, fruity pineapple and apricot.
Taste: A strong bready malt backbone with some nice light apricot, grapefruit, pine and grass.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: It’s easy to drink and nice and fruity. A decent beer but nothing spectacular.

words of another dreamy traveller

Monthly Archives: March 2016