Stone – The Barley Whine

Stone R&R Coconut IPA

August 31, 2013 by Steve Leave a Comment

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Stone R&R Coconut IPA

Stone R&R Coconut IPA, a collaboration between the winners of the 2013 American Homebrewers Association contest Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan, Rip Current Brewing, and Stone Brewing company, is a limited, late summer 22oz brew from Stone’s collaboration series. Earlier collab-beers have been wonderfully mad blends such as Ken Schmidt/Iron Fist Mint Chocolate Stout, and Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard’s recipe brewed with Tröegs as Cherry Chocolate Stout. These previous iterations worked off of a winning theorem: chocolate in stout pairs nicely. For the latest Stone collaboration, the oddball ingredients are less orthodox. Coconut can be a delightful addition to dark beers, such as Maui Brewing Company’s delicious (and underrated) CoConNut Porter. Can the milky tropical fruit do as well in an IPA where we more often get citrus fruits and pine?

THE BEER

Stone brews a number of hoppy beers including the Pale Ale, Ruination IPA, the Enjoy By Series, the 17th anniversary German inspired IPA, etc. With this beer they promise not only coconut but a new take on their use of hops.

Commercial description: …this innovative beer marks a refreshing sea change for IPA lovers everywhere. It was brewed with 280 pounds of coconut and an unusual blend of hop varieties, including a few from faraway lands or just brand spankin’ new, and is guaranteed to taste like no IPA that’s gone before…

Sounds exciting, let us give it a taste.

TASTING NOTES

Pouring out the bottle is an copper/orange beer with a bright white frothy head. Aromas of floral, even tropical hops and an oyster cracker malt note. The taste is an herbal-hop IPA with sweet malts and an astringent, biting, dry finish. Not finding the coconut at all. Body is light with big carbonation.

CONCLUSION

Certain flavors are imbued with greater potency than others. Ghost chilies bring hellish burning to the palate in only sparse amounts. Espresso coffee will make itself known in all kinds of recipes, from dry rubs to beer. But other tastes, even those familiar such as strawberry, can disappear as quickly as Pete’s Wicked Ale, when brushing up against other, more powerful components. Sadly, coconut seems to be one of these subtler flavors.

Stone R&R Coconut IPA promises a coconut flavored ale with a complex blend of exotic hops. What the bottle delivered however, was far less dynamic. Coconut IPA is a decent India pale ale, certainly not the best Stone brews. The coconut element, while I’m certain the competition brew had it in spades, just did not scale up in production. Coconut fans, we sadly tasted none.

Craft brewers have been holding contests and using homebrewer’s recipes to mix up their lineup. Stone has brought some great beers to market with this gimmick, this was just not one of them. Hopefully some of the Mint or Cherry Chocolate stouts will come back soon.

7.0/10

Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout

August 5, 2013 by Steve Leave a Comment

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Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout

Starting in 2011 Stone began releasing reworked versions of both their barleywine, Old Guardian and imperial stout, IRS. I don’t recall 2011’s BELGO Old Guardian, but the Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout was not widely popular. Anise was a bold, but polarizing flavor. If the first odd year reception was look warm, would round two be any better?

Packaging description: Like the classic version, this Odd Year edition was brewed in the authentic, historical style of an imperial Russian stout, but with the addition of several hundred pounds of espresso beans from our friends at Ryan Bros. Coffee. Layers of flavor and complexity augment an already enigmatic brew, leaving this darkly delicious libation positively brimming with deep, rich espresso flavors that meld beautifully with the roasty bitterness of the dark malts.

THE BEER

Lovers of coffee beer, we taste a favorite brewer’s take on a coffee stout with Stone Espresso Russian Imperial Stout.

2013 , another odd year brings two new odd beers: Stone Old Guardian Oak-Smoked, and Stone Espresso Russian Imperial Stout. For anyone who has even skimmed this site, you know what a passion we have for coffee beers. With a stellar brewery like Stone taking a shot at a coffee stout, there was no doubt a bottle or two would hit the cellar.

TASTING NOTES

Pours with a nice khaki head of bubbles of modest size. In bold contrast, the beer, like the original, Espresso IRA pours void black. The scents of well roasted coffee, chocolate, roasted malts, hops and dark fruits floods the senses with immediacy. With such an inviting nose, Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout has a lot to deliver. Thankfully, this stout brings it in spades. The taste unabashedly servers up coffee, vanilla, chocolate, subtly biting hops, and sweet malts. Big bold flavors are Stone’s calling card and this beer continues the tradition. The ABV is 11% but there is almost no hint of booze. A creamy and think body fits the style, coating the mouth with coffee goodness. Espresso IRS finishes with a nice dry, bitter note.

CONCLUSION

Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout is a mouthful to pronounce, though if you get your hands on a bottle, one mouthful will not be enough. This imperial stout amplifies the natural roasted malt tanins of coffee and chocolate with the edition of Ryan Brothers espresso beans to make a magnificently sweet and bitter, dark beer. A huge coffee ale that delivers what it promises. Find a bomber of this odd year edition before it’s gone, and enjoy one of the best java and beer combinations around.

9.0/10

Stone Imperial Russian Stout Review

August 26, 2012 by Steve 1 Comment

Stone Brewing Company is a behemoth. So big is Stone that, according to their website, the company plans to soon open a catering company, a brewing facility in Europe, a park, even a hotel! How did they become so successful? Brewing beer since only 1996, the company has achieved the top honors among American craft brewing with consistent, massively flavored brews in a number of categories. Arrogant Bastard and the IPAs are the best known of the Stone lineup. These guys have been heavy hopping out west for as long as they have been in business, and they know how to brew batches with piquancy. We’ve been big fans of these beers for a long time but rarely sample their other offerings. For this review we are tasting the 2012 batch, which is released in the second quarter of each year. This means the beer had less than 6 months to cellar before we drank it for the review.

TASTING NOTES

Pitch black pour with large brown head that is quickly eaten by the booze. Sniffing what should be sipped gives hints of roasted malts, chocolate, and prunes. In the mouth Stone Imperial Russian Stout is thick, giving off scrumptious roasted malts, coffee, anise, and hints of hops (warrior). The finish is booze with a lot of raisin/prune/soy sauce notes. The soy sauce element lingers a bit too much in the end.

CONCLUSION

From the humble Stone Pale Ale, to the Vertical Epic 11.11.11 with New Mexican Chilies, and everything in between, Stone Brewing makes the highest quality beer. Stone Imperial Russian Stout is no exception. While it may not be in the upper echelon of Russian imperial stouts with Founder’s, Great Divide Yeti, Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S, or Cigar City Marshall Zhukov, the beer is a delicious rendition of a potent style. When you want to take your friend-who-thinks-Guinness-is-a-big-beer to the next level, seek this bad boy out.