Stochasticity Project: HiFi+LoFi Mixtape
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Strong Ale Series Out of Production|
Score
6.61
|
|
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.
Sign up to add a tick or review
8.2/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Brewers Haven. Surprised at the low ratings, this is really good. Love the sharp aged notes on the velvety smooth body. Copper orange pour with all off white creamy head. Hoppy, smoky aroma, some barrel. Taste wraps it all up in a sharp citrus, tangy, bitter burst of flavor. Mild bitterness lingers. Excellent!
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Aug 2015
at 20:13
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Keg at Brewdog Shepherds Bush, London. A hazy amber coloured pour with a medium off white head on top. Boozy, fruity, caramel aroma. Tastes fruity, caramel, malty, almost like an old ale. Hard to describe this one but it is rather unique and drinkable.
Tried
on 04 Aug 2015
at 14:04
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottle from Cigarette City. Copper, hazy color. Aroma is light oak notes, caramel (to much caramel) sugar. Over ripe fruit.
Flavor comes off with some fruity hops that have an old lady’s perfume character. Oak is sharp and astringent with too much sugar and caramel throughout. Old sugary covered fruit notes. Kind of a mess for a Stone brew. Well, they all can’t be homeruns, I expected much more from Stone, barely drinkable.
Flavor comes off with some fruity hops that have an old lady’s perfume character. Oak is sharp and astringent with too much sugar and caramel throughout. Old sugary covered fruit notes. Kind of a mess for a Stone brew. Well, they all can’t be homeruns, I expected much more from Stone, barely drinkable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Aug 2015
at 19:15
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bomber from Beer Run. Clear copper, large foamy white head, good retention. Aroma of grainy malt, green hops, oak. The taste is stone fruits, pale malt, some grain, nuttiness, citrus, oak. Medium bodied, mild lingering bitterness, mild booze.
Tried
on 27 Jul 2015
at 19:53
6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
650 ml bottle. Pours a caramel/orange color with moderate head, Aromas of grassy hops and toasted malts with a bit of alcohol. Flavors of woody oak, toasted malts, and bitter grassy hops. Expecting more.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Jul 2015
at 21:56