Category Archives: 3 – Indifferent (might buy, probably drink)

Stone Grapefruit Slam IPA

– aka Stone Stochasticity Project Grapefruit Slam IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Centennial, Chinook and Magnum. Special Ingredients – Grapefruit. A zesty Double India Pale Ale w/ Grapefruit Peel

Brewer Description: (from can) We’ve made a hell of a lot of beers since 1996. Probably thousands at this point. Some stick around for decades, some for a few years and some are brief visits, gracing us with their hoppy presence fora short time before becoming fond memories. Occasionally stars, planets and brewing schedules align and we bring back one of these ephemeral creations. In fall of 2014 we created a draft-only version of this delicious double India pale ale. Its bitter, zesty grapefruit peel infusion created a bright accent to notes of pine resin and fresh citrus well in advance of the explosion of fruited beers we’re all reveling in at the moment. We never stopped thinking about it, so a long five years later, we’re bringing back Stone Grapefruit Slam IPA for round two. It’s a link to the past planted delightfully in the present.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.67
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, canned on 16th January 2019, and with an enjoy by date of 16th May 2019. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A clear copper colour with a big three finger slightly off white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Grapefruit peel, citrus rind and zest, caramel, pine, resinous.
Taste: Like the aroma, bittersweet, grapefruit zest and rind, caramel, pine, resin, and light biscuit.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I think maybe the bittersweet grapefruit zestiness was probably a bit too intense for me. I preferred other versions of IPAs by Stone.

Kings Barrel Aged Dia Noche Stout

Brewery: Kings Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Mostra coffee

Brewer Description: (from website menu) Aged in bourbon barrel and conditioned on blueberries, coffee, cinnamon and cacao nibs.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.65
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 500ml waxed bottle (looks nice but really annoying to open), with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, cinnamon, coffee, red bean and a hint of bourbon.
Taste: Cinnamon, bourbon sweetness, chocolate, coffee.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Maybe too much going on here that the flavours are clashing? Cinnamon a little strong while I’m not getting any blueberry at all. Body is also lighter than I’d prefer.

Kings Night Cap

Brewery: Kings Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial Nutella & Toasted Hazelnut Stout.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 500ml waxed bottle (such a pain to open), with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger tanned head that had pretty good retention and left some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Nutella, nuttiness, light chocolate milk and a hint of banana bread.
Taste: Chocolate milk, Nutella, vanilla and banana cream pie like sweetness, with only hints of hazelnuts in the background.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Body was so light (too light) that the whole time it seemed like I was drinking a 6% Stout instead on an Imperial Stout. It also lacked roastiness to balance some of the sweet, and even though this is a Pastry Stout, it just lacked balance without any roast. Lastly, the hazelnut was unfortunately just hidden in the background and not really found in the flavours.

Kings Cereza

Brewery: Kings Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website menu) Barrel aged sour, that was aged for two years in oak barrels before refermenting on two type of cherries for 6 months. Then it was allowed to bottle condition several months.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.52
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 375ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy copper amber colour with a two finger tanned head that dissipated quickly and left no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, cherry, oak with a hint of band aid.
Taste: Sour, tart, funky, oak, lemon juice, lemon rind, cherry.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was fine, but taste was a bit weird for me with too much funk which masked the cherries a bit.

Mikkeller Raspberry Quadrupel

Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 13%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: Brewed by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij, Belgium

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ale brewed with lactose & raspberries.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 20th January 2020. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A murky dark brown colour with a one finger tanned head that settled fairly quickly to a thin but replenishing layer, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Raspberry jam, very intensely jammy with only a hint of any roast and chocolate.
Taste: Raspberry, raspberry juice, raspberry jam, boozy raspberry. It’s sweet, on the borderline of being overly so, but still ok. Sourness follows soon afterwards along with lots of dark fruit, raisin, prunes, plum, fig, and hints of dark malt, roastiness, and chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation and a touch of booze.
Overall: I loved the intense jammy raspberry aroma and while taste was just as jammy, it was on the borderline of being too sweet, and this combination of sweet and booze is not my favourite.