Stochasticity Project: HiFi+LoFi Mixtape
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Strong Ale Series Out of Production|
Score
6.61
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A Blend of Fresh and Barrel-Aged Ales
A beer that pays homage to a centuries-old tradition of combining new beer with aged “stock ales.” Freshly brewed beers of the day often were very smoky and bitter tasting, and were blended with older beer that had mellowed with age to produce more drinkable libations. This modern brew showcases our brewers’ talents in blending a stock ale aged more than three months in oak foudres (large wooden fermentation vessels) with a fresh version of the same beer to create a perfect harmony spanning end to end on the taste spectrum.
Stone co-founder Greg Koch has hypothesized for years that brewing the same beer at two different alcohol levels and blending them would provide a different flavor profile than brewing the base beer to a specific alcohol target. And this is true. When compared with beers brewed to lower gravities, fermenting at a higher gravity with a higher resulting alcohol level causes a drastically different mix of esters and other flavor compounds provided by yeast fermentation. Proof comes via this beer, which follows a decidedly English track, using 100% English malts and hops a la traditional stock ales, which I learned a lot about while conducting research for my book "IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale." It was fun to be able to draw on this research as the inspiration for this beer.
A beer that pays homage to a centuries-old tradition of combining new beer with aged “stock ales.” Freshly brewed beers of the day often were very smoky and bitter tasting, and were blended with older beer that had mellowed with age to produce more drinkable libations. This modern brew showcases our brewers’ talents in blending a stock ale aged more than three months in oak foudres (large wooden fermentation vessels) with a fresh version of the same beer to create a perfect harmony spanning end to end on the taste spectrum.
Stone co-founder Greg Koch has hypothesized for years that brewing the same beer at two different alcohol levels and blending them would provide a different flavor profile than brewing the base beer to a specific alcohol target. And this is true. When compared with beers brewed to lower gravities, fermenting at a higher gravity with a higher resulting alcohol level causes a drastically different mix of esters and other flavor compounds provided by yeast fermentation. Proof comes via this beer, which follows a decidedly English track, using 100% English malts and hops a la traditional stock ales, which I learned a lot about while conducting research for my book "IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale." It was fun to be able to draw on this research as the inspiration for this beer.
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6.9/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
22 oz bottle from Sparrow, 8/27/15. Pours a golden-orange color with a nice, lasting, sheeting and frothy beige head. Plenty of lace sheeting on the glass. Really, a great looking beer. Boozy and fruity flavor. Some caramel comes through as well, and maybe a bit of grape. Not a lot of hop present. Very smooth on the mouth. Good feel. A bit of heat, but not as much as you might expect from the aroma. I'm not sure I love this beer overall, but there's some good stuff going on here.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Aug 2015
at 17:40
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught @ Stone Tap Room, San Diego. Aroma is sweetish with fruity notes and grainy malt. Also some sweetish oaty notes. Flavour has oaty tones, apricot and some menthol. Not bad but not my thing still.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Aug 2015
at 18:26
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draught @ Stone Brewing Tap Room, San Diego, CA
Pours orange with a foamy white head. Aroma of sweet oaky notes, toffee, caramel and syrup. Taste is sweetish, oaky and malty with hints of toffee, caramel and syrup. Finish is hoppy, sweetish and oaky with some caramely maltiness. Okay.
Pours orange with a foamy white head. Aroma of sweet oaky notes, toffee, caramel and syrup. Taste is sweetish, oaky and malty with hints of toffee, caramel and syrup. Finish is hoppy, sweetish and oaky with some caramely maltiness. Okay.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Aug 2015
at 17:53
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Pours amber with a small head.Nose shows soft sweet biscuity malt, a hint of booze, spicy hops and soft sweet oak notes.Flavours include more woody oak, soft clean malt, an astringent character and a bit of spicy and herbal hops. Finishes with an aggressive bitterness.
Tried
on 13 Aug 2015
at 22:23
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Keg at BD CJ. It pours lightly hazy deep amber with a decent beige head. The nose is soft, woody, old leather sofa, varnish, sandalwood, mild toffee, worthers original, light creaminess, vanilla and a hint of spice. The taste is rich, bitter, oily, big hit of wood, leather, dull smoke, resinous, some astringency, wet hay and dirty basement with a lingering wood - driven finish. Medium to full body and fine carbonation. I like th idea and style, I just wish it offered a bit more drinkability. Alright.
Tried
on 10 Aug 2015
at 11:19
5.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 2
Overall 5
On tap at Rustico Ballston, pours a murky orange with some tight, white head. Nose is... well, what the hell, smells like someone attempted Arabier and failed. Aromas of wet rotting wood, blood orange, cooked greens, stale grist, wild yeast which shouldn’t be there. Flavor is the same, extremely tart but without complexity, pith, soap, cheap wood. Full and abrasive finish. A miss from them.
Tried
from Draft
on 09 Aug 2015
at 10:16