Double Angry Bastard - Stone Brewing

APPEARANCE: (5)Very thick foam, grainy cloudy dark color towards dark beige brown.

AROMA: (5) Rich, heavy maltiness. Syrupy, fruity, bananas and nuts.

TASTE: (5) Very sweet. The malt is very heavy, taste of syrup and molasses.

EXTRA: (5)Stone Brewing go the extra mile and don't spare any ingredients to present a true luxury ale. To me this is more a Barley vine style ale and it is a good one.

Beer style: American very strong ale/Barley vine style ale
Serving temperature: 12 C
Alcohol: 10.5.0%.

Food Pairings: Desserts. Sweet cakes, pies.
APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 5 x 1 = 5

Total: 130/130

Arrogant Bastard - Stone Brewing

APPEARANCE: (4) Semi dark, cloudy. Pretty thick foam which builds up by twirling the glass.

AROMA: (5) Malty, syrupy aroma. Heavy thick smell of figs and sweet fruit.

TASTE: (4) A pretty sweet beer where the base is on the malt not the hops. I wish there would have been more hops in this than I can taste. I know that it is there because it is a "heavy" beer on the malt and there is hops to balance it but the hops are playing second fiddle to the malt in this angry bastard.

EXTRA: (5) Stone Brewing don't make any bad beers. Their brews, bottles and website have very high quality. From Stone Brewings own website:

"This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory–maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beverage will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make things taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this"

I have to admit that I had GREAT expectations on this beer and they did not fully come true since I am a hop lover. This is a great beer, no doubt about it but it is a beer for the Malt lover more than for the Hop lover. Even if this beer is much more renowned and more expensive, I think that it taste quite like Diamond Bears Presidential IPA which is also a malt dominant beer instead of a hop dominant beer.

Beer style: American Strong Ale
Serving temperature: 10 C
Alcohol: 7.2%

Food Pairings: Strong cheese, barbeque, burgers or whatever. Because the hops is so mild, there is just the maltiness that can be paired with a lot of food.


APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 5 x 10 =50
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 5 x 1 = 5

Total: 115/130

Stone Ruination - Stone Brewing

APPEARANCE: (5) Orange hazy color with a thick, thick creamy top which seems to last forever.

AROMA: (5) Somewhat more moderate aroma hops compared with Stone IPA but a very pleasant fruity/herbal scent

TASTE: (5) This is not a beer for everyone but for all of us who enjoys the really, really hoppy beers, this is heaven.

EXTRA: (4) This brewery does not make any hop loving beer lover disappointed. This is the types of beers that I rank the highest and enjoy most to drink. Truly hop heavy beers where the malt is only there to back the hops up. It is not for everyone, not even for all beer lovers but it is for us hop lovers.

Beer style: Double India Pale Ale
Serving temperature: 10C
Alcohol: 7.7%

Food Pairings: Stone brewing states on the bottle that this beer ruins your palate. After drinking this beer, all food or drinks tastes bland.

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 =25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 4 x 1 = 4

Total: 129/130

Stone IPA - Stone Brewing

The beer basket keeps getting refilled by the nice wife. This time from an out of state trip to Tennessee, the basket was filled with some of the best beers in America which we cannot get in Arkansas, beers from Stone Brewing. I have only had this beer one time before and that was not far from the brewery, at Torey Pines Golf Club outside San Diego.

APPEARANCE: (5) Apricot hazy, soft fluffy foam which lasts a long time. A twirl of the glass builds up the foam to twice the thickness

AROMA: (5) Fruity and herbal aroma from the hops.

TASTE: (5) Perfect combination. Weight is on the hops and the malts are there to give balance without taking over. This is a very easy drinking beer despite the heavy hops and fairly high alcohol. I would say that this is a perfect IPA.

EXTRA: (4) Their bottles are impressing both from an artistic standpoint as well as good information about the product.

Stone Brewing

Beer style: India Pale Ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 6.9%

Hop Variety:
Columbus, Chinook & Centennial

Food Pairings: Fairly all round beer. Works with a lot of food, especially spicy dishes and an exceptional session beer.

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 4 x 1 = 4

Total: 129/130

Ruthless Rye - Sierra Nevada

APPEARANCE: (5) Foamy thick head

AROMA: (5) VERY intense raw peppery smell. Hops almost smell like pilsner hops, Hallertau?

TASTE: (4) High bitterness and the grapefruit smell that was felt in the aroma is confirmed in the taste.

EXTRA: (5) Sierra Nevada always brews top class ales. This is an experiment with Rye which is very flavorful. This is not an easy drinking beer, rather a slowly enjoyed session beer. The label is so cool and beautiful like everything from Sierra Nevada.

Beer style: IPA with Rye
Serving temperature: 10 C
Alcohol: 6.6%

Food Pairings: This is a difficult beer to pair with food. I would just enjoy it as is.

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 5 x 1 = 5

Total: 120/130

Hop Rod Rye - Bear Republic

APPEARANCE: (5) Creamy milk white thick foam. Deep dark brown reddish color.

AROMA: (5) Peppery and hop strong aroma with hints of smoke and cognac.

TASTE: (5) Very bitter on the palate but still with a high drinkability.

EXTRA: (5) A very elegant beer in flavor and aroma even if its label does not look that way with its hot rod car. This is a wonderful beer.

Bear Republic

Beer style: Strong ale brewed with 20% rye
Serving temperature: 10-12 C
Alcohol: 8.0%

Food Pairings: Semi soft, semi strong cheese

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 5 x 1 = 5

Total: 130/130

Charleville Box of Chocolate Quad

APPEARANCE: (4) Creamy white foam which increases with a twirl of the testing glass but not extraordinary.

AROMA: (5) Very rich chocolate aroma with strong scent of banana liquor and hints of vanilla.

TASTE: (5) Very rich sweet taste of chocolate which by itself can be a little bit overwhelming. Pairing it with a chocolate desert makes the whole difference and brings out the best of this sweet beer.

EXTRA: (5) Only made once, not even seasonal as far as I understand. As chocolaty as any beer could get.

Charleville vineyard
Beer style: Quadruple
Serving temperature: 10-14 C
Alcohol: 10.5%

Food Pairings: Desserts, preferable chocolate

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 5 x 1 = 5

Total: 125/130