Stone Vertical Epic 12.12.12

I stopped in at Al’s of Hampden to pick up a bottle of Stone Vertical Epic 12.12.12, the final beer in the series. The beer pours a dark brown color with a lofty and frothy tan colored head that leaves specks of lacing behind on the glass. The aroma consists of candisugar, tobacco, chocolate, raisin, fig, cinnamon, allspice, orange, and nutmeg. The taste is rich and fruity with raisin, dates, fig, orange, and rose all up front. The base of the beer is built with chocolate and tobacco flavors, and the finish has a dry and spicy hop flavor to it that brings along some lemon zest and pine. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I really enjoyed this blend of spices and dark fruits, as it was like no other beer I have tried before. It was hoppy yet full of tobacco and chocolate, keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout the ride.

Stone Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale

While travelling to Charlotte, NC, my friend Adam and I stopped in to Jack Brown’s Joint Beer & Burger Joint in Harrisonburg, VA. I ordered a bottle of Stone Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale. The beer pours a dark amber color/brown color with a frothy tan colored head. The aroma consists of chocolate, rye, caramel, and toast. The taste starts with chocolate before quickly turning to a rye spiciness that is absolutely fantastic. Toasted malts and caramel sweetness appear before a lemon and peppery hop finish and an oat after taste. The alcohol content is 11% ABV. I was absolutely blown away with how good this beer was and how the rye really played a wonderful part in it, mixing expertly with the chocolate base.

Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans

I ordered a glass of Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans while on The Beer Circle PA tour at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of smoke, vanilla, chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth with a strong vanilla presence and a light smoke background that gets stronger as it lingers. Balancing out all of the flavors is a peppery finish derived from the hops. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. The addition of vanilla beans to this beer really made it smooth drinking, but it did not eliminate the strong smoke presence. I loved how the smoke intensified as it it lingered in the mouth, and I would drink this again.

Stone 16th Anniversary IPA

I picked up a bottle of Stone 16th Anniversary IPA from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a light amber color with a lofty and frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of lemon, pine, spruce, tangerine, and a hint of caramel. The taste is very bitter on the front end with lots of pine and citrus flavors. A refreshing lemon citrus flavor takes over the mouth with an oily feel to it. There is a taste of toasted toffee in the background and hints of caramel. The finish is very peppery, floral, and grassy. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. The lemon flavors in this beer really jumped out of the glass and gave it an extra oily mouthfeel to it. I loved how piny and coniferous this beer was.

Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary Edition

I picked up a bottle of Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary Edition from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a golden color with a lofty and frothy white colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of pine, hop resins and oils, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, and a dankness. The taste is bitter and extremely hoppy with plenty of citrus flavors on the front end. Orange, tangerine, grapefruit, and lemon all present themselves before a hop resin takes over the mouth. This lingers for a little while before pepper and spruce flavors hit on the finish. The alcohol content is 10.8% ABV. This was an utterly fantastic Imperial IPA with great citrus flavors and major hop resins. It lingers in your mouth longer after it’s gone, and I was more than happy that it hung around.

Stone-Bear Republic-Fat Head's TBA (Texas Brown Ale)

As part of a trade with my buddy Rich in San Diego, I received a bottle of the Stone-Bear Republic-Fat Head’s collaboration TBA (Texas Brown Ale). The beer pours a brown color with a lofty and frothy cream colored head that lingers for a really long time. The aroma consists of lemon, pepper, caramel, toasted malts, coffee, and pine. The taste is nicely bitter with a toasted malt flavor and caramel backbone. The hops bring out lemon, pepper, and pine. The alcohol content is 7.1% ABV. I like the added hoppiness to this brown ale, and it was an aggressive representative of the style. If this is brew true to historical style, I would like to see more of these made in the future.

Stone-The Alchemist-Ninkasi More Brown Than Black IPA

While I was in New York at DiCicco’s, I picked up a bottle of the Stone/The Alchemist/Ninkasi collaboration More Brown Than Black IPA. The beer pours a dark brown color (implied in the name!) with a lofty and frothy beige colored head that leaves speckled lacing on the glass. There are lots of floating materials in this glass, and they settle together on the bottom. The aroma consists of lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, caramel, roasted malts, and caramel. The taste is lightly chocolaty with bitter lemon, grapefruit, and tangerine. As the beer finishes on the back of the tongue, a nice coffee accent comes out to play. Toasted malts are left behind with a mix of bitter grapefruit. The alcohol content is 7.4% ABV. This was quite a delectable beer with a great chocolate based that balances bitter citrus flavors well. The best part of it was the slight coffee flavor on the finish, which blew my socks off and completely impressed me.

Stone Vertical Epic 11-11-11

I stopped in to Al’s of Hampden to hang out with some friends and I ordered a glass of Stone Vertical Epic 11-11-11. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy white head. Th aroma consists of spicy pepper, cinnamon, chocolate, and caramel. The taste is smooth with light chocolate flavor on the front end. There is plenty of caramel that takes over the mouth before a good spicy pepper accent that doesn't kill the beer, or the tongue, kicks in to play. A bit of dry cinnamon comes in to play, but never takes a foot hold. The finish has some creaminess to it, and the beer goes down rather smooth. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. This version of the Vertical Epic is one of the better chili pepper infused beers out there, as it wasn’t too spicy to kill the palate, and it wasn’t too faint to ignore. I think Stone did a great job with it.

Stone-Baird-Ishii Green Tea IPA

I picked up a bottle of the Stone-Baird-Ishii collaboration Green Tea IPA while I was in Denver. This beer was made to benefit the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head that lingers for a while with no lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of tangerine, orange, green tea, pepper, and candi sugar. The taste is really bitter with plenty of orange and tangerine flavors right up front with pine hops pushing through. There is a caramel and green tea base that provides some nice sweetness with a candi sugar finish. The after taste leaves some pepper and alcohol burn on the tongue. The alcohol content is 9.2% ABV. The amount  of orange, tangerine, and green tea flavors in this beer are amazing, and it is quite the bitter IPA to boot. I certainly would like to find a few more of these bottles to drink, as it is a wonderful IPA with a wide variety of flavors.

Stone-Troegs-Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard Cherry Chocolate Stout

I picked up a case of the Stone-Troegs-Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard collaboration Cherry Chocolate Stout from Westy’s in Camp Hill. The beer pours a motor-oil black color with a frothy tan head that dissipates rather rapidly and doesn’t leave any lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of strong dark chocolate nibs with a touch of vanilla sweetness, toasted malts, a nice cherry pie-like accent. The taste is wonderfully silky smooth chocolate with a slight bitterness as it is of the dark chocolate type. A cherry sweetness with a hint of tartness comes into play next with some vanilla accents. The finish brings out some toasted malts and dry, earthy hops. The alcohol content is 7.3% ABV. The smoothness of the beer was impeccable with a wonderful cherry and vanilla sweetness. Those flavors played very well together, and balanced out the dark and bitter chocolate.

Stone 15th Anniversary Ale- Escondidian Imperial Black IPA

My fiancee tried to order one beer on the menu at Blue Monk in Buffalo, but the waitress said that it had been kicked. But what was in its place? It was the Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA, and I excitedly ordered a glass. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, grapefruit, pine, chocolate, coffee, and caramel. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with mocha, coffee, molasses, and lots pine, grapefruit, and lemon hops. It really should be stated that this beer has a big hop profile and is not for the faint of hop-hearted. Cocoa nibs come out in the finish, bringing the tongue back to the chocolaty goodness. The alcohol content is 10.8% ABV. I thought Stone provide a wonderful black ale without being too chocolaty, as they made this beer about the hops in their typical arrogant way, and I love it.

Stone BELGO Anise Imperial Russian Stout

I picked up a bottle of Stone BELGO Anise Imperial Russian Stout from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with an extremely lofty tan head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, sweet yeast, toasted malts, pine, and lemon. The taste is smooth and creamy with plenty of sweet yeast flavors up front before chocolate, toasted malts, caramel, and a pine twist kick in on the tongue. The finish is slightly dry and bitter with hops. The after taste brings out some smoked meat flavor, which is quite interesting and enjoyable. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. This was a great imperial stout with a wonderful Belgian twist of yeast. I think I may like the original IRS better, but the Belgian accent was very welcome.

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

I picked up a bottle of Stone Imperial Russian Stout from Al’s of Hampden as a precursor to trying the BELGO Anise Imperial Stout. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, coffee, toasted malts, caramel, toffee, and pine. The taste is strong and large with plenty of toasted malts and a hefty helping of chocolate. There is a dry coffee finish with hints of cream, vanilla, caramel, and toffee. The after taste is spicy with pine and pepper. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. This is a quality example of an Imperial Russian Stout, but non-hop heads should beware, as it does have a spicy and peppery after taste that I loved, but some may not. It really adds an element to the beer not found in most others within this style.

Stone Oaked Bastard

While at Stone World Bistro and Gardens, I ordered a glass of the Oaked Arrogant Bastard. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of lots of caramel, pine and lemon hops. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of caramel on the front end with pine and lemon hops. The finish brings out the oak flavor. The alcohol content is 7.2%. The beer has excellent balance and the oak adds the perfect amount of dryness, balancing out the sweet caramel and further drying out the hops.

Stone-Green Flash-Pizza Port Carlsbad Highway 78 Scotch Ale

My buddy Stoner picked me up a few bottles of the Stone/Green Flash/Pizza Port Carlsbad collaboration Highway 78 Scotch Ale. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of lots of caramel, toasted malts, and pine hops. The taste is smooth and sweet with a big caramel helping before a toasted malts flavor kicks in. A drying finish comes out to play with pine hops, balancing the sweetness in the beer. The alcohol consists of 8.8% ABV. The caramel sweetness of this beer is most excellent and is balanced nicely with the pine hops, making an enjoyable drinking experience.

Stone Old Guardian Belgo

I ordered a bottle of Stone Old Guardian Belgo online because I wanted to compare it to the original Old Guardian. The beer pours a ruby color with a foamy off-white head that almost leaps out of the glass and completely laces the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, tangerine, plum, candisugar, and Belgian yeast. The taste is smooth and sweet with a wonderful raisin, fig, tangerine, plum, and date flavor. The Belgian yeast kicks in on the finish, as well as a nice alcohol bite on the tongue. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. While some people may have called this a gimmick in creating a Belgian version of the Old Guardian, I would say it was a well done gimmick. I really enjoyed the Belgian yeast component to this beer, as it brought out the fruitiness and alcohol bite in the beer.

Stone-Ballast Point-Kelsey McNair San Diego County Session Ale

I picked up a bottle of Stone-Ballast Point-Kelsey McNair collaboration Sand Diego County Session Ale from HoneyGo Wines outside of Baltimore. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of sweet orange citrus with lemon, tangerine, and fresh earthy hops. The taste is bitter with hops built on top of a light caramel flavor. There are lots of pine, lemon, and orange flavored hops that come through on this beer. The alcohol content is 4.2% ABV. This beer is very bitter but also very enjoyable with plenty of citrus zest right in your face. And since it is sessionable, drinking several of these in one sitting is not an issue.

Stone Lukcy 13asartd

I picked up a bottle of Stone Lukcy 13asartd (read: Stone Lucky Bastard) from Al's of Hampden and was really excited to try it. This beer is a blend of Arrogant Bastard Ale, Double Bastard Ale, and Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale for the 13th Anniversary of the Arrogant Bastard. The beer pours a read amber color with and frothy white head. The aroma consists of sweet malts with caramel, oak, cherry, flowers, and light hints of lemon and grapefruit. The taste is big and explosive with a big bag of floral hops that provide a nice helping of lemon and grapefruit. Following the hop bomb, a nice smooth caramel flavor comes out on the tongue that is also candy-like. The finish brings out some oak flavors with a hint of of orange and orange. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. The Lukcy 13asartd is an amazing beer that has so much going on for both hop heads and with a wonderful sweet background. The citrus accents are very pleasant and really provide a nice balance to this beer that even has the oak accents peek through.

Stone/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker El Camino

I ordered a bottle of the Stone Brewing/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker collaboration El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale from RattleNHum bar in New York City. I am noticing the Stone really likes to get around an

d collaborate with other brewers (a bit risque?). The beer pours a black color with light red hues and a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of caramel with fresh hops and oak. The taste is big on oak and has a good caramel accent, fresh hops, licorice, and peppermint. I likened the taste to Good N Plenty candy. The beer then has a light coffee finish. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I thought the beer had a good balance and an excellent dry finish.

Stone/Brew Dog/Cambridge Juxtaposition Black Pilsner

My friend Jeff ordered a bottle of the Stone Brewing/Brew Dog/Cambridge Juxtaposition Black Pilsner at RattleNHum bar in New York City. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy head. The aroma consists of oak and strong with raisins, vanilla, and milk chocolate. The taste is big on raisin with some chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar. The beer also has a dry finish, and a little tobacco in the after taste. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I really enjoyed this black pilsner, a new style to me. The dark flavors such as chocolate and raisins went down smoothly and drank like a pilsner.