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

B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout - Hoppin Frog Brewing Company

APPEARANCE: (5) Super dark, heavy almost molasses looking when pouring into the testing glass. Foam is weak at first when pouring. Builds up somewhat when twirling the testing glass. The foam then looks like thick milk chocolate pudding.

AROMA: (4) Intense scents of chocolate and banana liquor.

TASTE: (5) Sweet, intense and very hoppy.

EXTRA: (4) Label and Website is approved. It would have been nice to read something more about each beer on their website though.

Hoppin Frog Brewery

Beer style: Imperial Stout
Serving temperature: 10-12 C
Alcohol: 9.4%
60 IBU

Food Pairings: Nuts

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

Total: 119/130

Oatmeal Stout - Free State brewing

APPEARANCE: (4) Ink jet black with light brown creamy head.

AROMA: (4) Oat and malt, distant smell of banana.

TASTE: (4) Pretty good mouth feel. Malt and hops in perfect harmony with either sticking out over the other. There is a pleasant after bitterness that comes hunting you later.

EXTRA: (3) See previous testing. Website OK but again, why is it so difficult for these breweries to print the alcohol level on the label or at least on their website?

Beer style: Oatmeal Stout
Serving temperature: 10-12 C
Alcohol: Unknown. 6.10% ABV according to Ratebeer.com

Food Pairings: Hard cheeses, deserts or as a session beer.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 103/130

8 (ball) Stout - Lost Coast brewery

APPEARANCE: (4) Very dark (as expected from a Stout :-)) Not a very rich foam head initially but some twirling of the testing glass builds up the foam which is creamy milk chocolaty.

AROMA: (4) Hints of chocolate and coffee

TASTE: (5) Very rich chocolate flavor. There is some coffee in the after notes but the first taste is chocolate. There is some sweetness is this beer and the special 'house flavor' of Lost Coast brewing. This is a very nice stout, well balanced and pretty drinkable.

EXTRA: (3) Nothing really to mention. Website is OK but not much information about the beers.

Beer style: Stout
Serving temperature: 10-12 C
Alcohol: 5.50% ABV

Food Pairings: Session beer and pairs well with some deserts and cheeses.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 113/130

IPA - Arcadia Brewing Company

APPEARANCE: (5) Clear dark golden color with a head so thick that the beer cannot be poured immediately even into a very large testing glass.

AROMA: (5) There are fresh hops in the aroma. Apricot and banana scents.

TASTE: (4) The beer has a pretty good mouth feel but the hops is not easy to identify in the taste. The bitterness is perfect but I was hoping for some more aroma hops in the flavors. This beer has been sitting for some month in my home so I am not sure if this is typical for this beer or if the beer in my bottle has faded somewhat.

EXTRA: (4) Extra points for printing the ABV on the label. The website is nice and informative but I wish that breweries would use more websites that focus on the content and not the design. It is difficult to overview the beers with the 'spinning pictures'.

Of some reason I cannot find this beer either on the brewery's web site or Ratebeer.com.

Arcadia Brewing Company

Beer style: India Pale Ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 6.0% ABV, printed on the label!!!

Food Pairings: Hard flavorful cheese.

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

Total: 119/130

Copperhead Pale Ale - Free State Brewing Co

APPEARANCE: (4) Creamy head. Hazy bronze color.

AROMA: (4) Fresh hop aroma.

TASTE: (4) Dominating malt which reflects the English style IPA more than the American IPA. Hop bitterness plays a background role for this beer. There is almost a little bit of smokiness in the flavor and I could swear that I taste asparagus also.

EXTRA: (3) The website is pretty informative about each beer they brew but why can they not state the alcohol level on the website or preferable on the labels?

Free state brewing company

Beer style: English style IPA ("with an American twist")
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: Unknown. According to Ratebeer.com 6.0% ABV

Food Pairings: This beer has a little bit more malt and some more hops which makes it more tasteful but also reduces the food pairings somewhat. It pairs well with cheese, hot dogs, stews, chili etc.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 103/130

Flying Monkey Amber Ale - Flying Monkey beers

APPEARANCE: (3) Light brown hazy with a tiny foam head which very quickly disapperars.

AROMA: (3) Sweet maltiness. Clean aroma.

TASTE: (3) Taste about the same as the aroma. A very easy drinking beer. Not a bad thirst quencher.

EXTRA: (1) Not much extra to give here. A pretty regular beer which is not bad but does not stand out either. No extra points for less informative label and the website looks like something from 1995.

Flying monkey beers.com

Beer style: Amber ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: Unknown. Ratebeer.com claims that it is 4.0 ABV which seems reasonable after tasting.

Food Pairings: Very versatile with all kind of food. A good general beer to pair food with since it is not imposing with a lot of flavors and pairs well with most food.

APPEARANCE: 3 x 5 = 15
AROMA: 3 x 10 = 30
TASTE: 3 x 10 = 30
EXTRA: 1 x 1 = 1

Total: 76/130

Bitch creak Extra Special Brown Ale - Grand Teton Brewing

APPEARANCE: (5) Pours a very thick dark, dark brown beer into the testing glass. Foam is thick but settles fast. When glass is twirled the foam builds up and takes an beige or creamy color.

AROMA: (4) Very nice thick aroma. Hazelnut and toffee notes.

TASTE: (5) Thick mouthfeel with smokey flavors.

EXTRA: (3) I am not sure I have stumbled over a beer called "Extra special brown" before.

Grand Teton Brewing

Beer style: Brown ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 6.0%

Hops: Galena, Chinook & Centennial, Dry hopped with Centennial

Food Pairings: Pistachio nuts

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 118/130

Duke of Wellington - Granite City Brewing

APPEARANCE: (3) Very dark for being an IPA like the website says but the label states Pale Ale. Foam flattens out fast but can be built up again with twirling the glass. Color pretty dark with some red hints.

AROMA: (4) Malty fresh rich aroma.

TASTE: (3) Somewhat flat taste with a sweet maltiness that is balanced pretty good with the hops. Very easy drinking beer.

EXTRA: (3) Not much extra except that it is very interesting to try a beer from this Wisconsin (Monroe) brewery

Granite City Brewing website

Beer style: Pale Ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: x.0%

Food Pairings: xcx

APPEARANCE: 3 x 5 = 15
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 3 x 10 = 30
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 88/130

Denver Pale Ale - Great Divide Brewing

APPEARANCE: (4) Bronze colored semi clear with a rather weak foam head. Foam grows back after some twirls of the testing glass.

AROMA: (4) Sweet malty and nutty aroma.

TASTE: (4) Fairly light but very malt dominant. The hops are just playing a background role.

EXTRA: (3) This is considered Great Divides 'flagship' beer with many awards from different beer festivals. If you prefer a malty beer before a hoppy one, this is your perfect beer.

Beer style: Pale ale
Serving temperature: 8-10x C
Alcohol: 5.4%

Food Pairings: Burgers, stew, any meat dishes. Very versatile with food pairings. Or as Great Divide says on their website: "Robust pasta sauces, such as Arrabbiata, Puttanesca, spicy Italian sausage and roasted red pepper sauce, or sausage and sun dried tomato cream sauce. John Lehndorff of the Rocky Mountain News suggests serving DPA with spicy ribs. DPA’s hearty hop profile is the perfect complement to the rich flavor of DPA Braised Lamb Shanks"

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 103/130

Namaste - Dogfish head

APPEARANCE: (4) Thick foam builds up when the beer is poured into the testing glass. As with most bears of wheat or wit style, it settles fairly fast. A quick twirl builds up the milk white foamy head again.

AROMA: (4) Spicy coriander flavor. Fresh fruity aroma.

TASTE: (4) A very refreshing and tasty with beer from Dogfish head. I prefer Wit today before regular wheat beer because of the extra freshness and the interesting spices often used in them. It is mainly a refreshing beer style though and the variety between different brands are not huge.

EXTRA: (4) Nice presentation in form of this champagne bottle. Cannot figure out what the skeleton on the label symbolizes though.

Beer style: Beligan Wit
Serving temperature: 6-8 C
Alcohol: 5.0%

Food Pairings: Perfect thirst quencher beer. Works well with most dishes.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 4 x 1 = 104

Total: 104/130

Red Rocket Ale - Bear Republic

APPEARANCE: (3) Beautiful foam fills the testing glass but dies down pretty fast. If this beer is supposed to be a "red ale", it is VERY different from all the red ales that I have had before. This beer looks more like Coca Cola.

AROMA: (3) A twirl of the glass releases a rather complex aroma; Sweet rum, overripe bananas, spoiled fruits.

TASTE: (3) Taste of molasses or burned sugar. Scottish red ale is one of extremely few beer styles that I have a problem with. This beer is not that significant as mostly red beers. It is fairly malty but kind of thin in the flavor. Since I am not a fan of red ales I cannot give this beer credit even if it would be good from a red ale fans perspective.

EXTRA: (3) Label is kind of less serious aiming to attract people who are not really beer connoisseurs.

Bear Republics website

http://www.bearrepublic.com/home.php

Beer style: "Bastardized Scottish style red ale" (according to the brewery)
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 6.8%

Food Pairings: I have no idea since I don't like this beer style.

APPEARANCE: 3 x 5 = 15
AROMA: 3 x 10 = 30
TASTE: 3 x 10 = 30
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 78/130

Rumble - Oak aged India Pale Ale - Great Divide Brewing Co

APPEARANCE: (5) Beautiful clear reddish color with a creamy inviting head.

AROMA: (5) Oakey intriguing scents from the oak caskets that this beer has been matured on. Almost smell like a good single malt.

TASTE: (4) Taste is less flavorful than expected but still very nice. Very balanced, the malt is heavy which almost is going to stand out as a identification for this brewery since the previous tested beer was the same. The hops is balancing the malt. I tried it also together with Brie cheese as Great Divide recommended and it is a pretty good choice for this beer.

EXTRA: (3) After for the first time trying Great Divide brewing I think that they are very close in their beer styles to Diamond Bear Brewing of Little Rock, AR. Even their IPA:s are dominating on the malt which makes them different. Not necessary the best beer choice for the 'hop head' but very good beers still.

Beer style: American IPA
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 7.1%

Food Pairings: According to Great Divide Brewing: Marinated skirt steak, sweet potatoes, brie or Tallegio cheese, apple crisp with creme fraice ice cream.

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 118/130

Titan IPA - Great Divide Brewing Co

APPEARANCE: (4) Pours a beautiful copper colored fairly clear beer with a competitive foam crown.

AROMA: (4) Buttery aroma with faint hints of hop. From the aroma I can almost picture an IPA which is heavier on the malty side compared to most IPA:s.

TASTE: (5) Very interesting taste. The malt is higher than in most IPA:s but the bitterness is definitely there to balance it. The taste is somewhat surprising because it is almost a little bit butter flavored liked in Czech pilseners.

I like it. It is a fairly easy drinking beer but still with a lot of flavor. It is very well balanced between hop and malt. A different IPA. Closer to the British style than the American IPA.

EXTRA: (3) I wish that their website was a little bit more informative about the different beers.

Great Divide Brewings website

Beer style: IPA
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 7.1%

Food Pairings: According to Great Divide: "Grilled halibut, Thai curry, strong/soft cow milk cheeses.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 113/130