Stone IPA and Barrons Wattle Seed Ale

Oh the delicious offerings of Stone! What a great brewing company and the lupulin delivery viehicles they procure. So wonderful to sample these fine ales in their native environment!!!!!

Stone IPA

I’m in San Diego touring the city and what a wonderful way to spend my time than examining the beers that are local to this city. I’m only privy to some west coast ales in Tennessee, but not many. So I’m taking advantage of this opportunity to explore.

First up is the wonderful local san diego brewery, Stone brewing company. I love their Arogant bastard ale, and it’s a favorite of mine. Even though I can probably get their IPA back home, I haven’t reviewed it yet.

Served in a bomber 22, this beer pours a wonderful golden color with a rich hop bouquet. It screams cascade, but the wonderful thing about this beer and the hop aroma/presence is that its never overly assertive. Some hop heads might disagree with me here, but for me its nice when I have a hoppy beer that dosent leave my clothes smelling of hops after a pint. That being said, the flavor of this beer has that same character. The hops are solid, but not completely blasting you over.

I love this beer’s flavor. Great taste, without the grapefruit notes of cascade. Its also subdued a bit, but still strongly an IPA. the malt is extremely well balanced in this beer, with a smooth bitterness that’s not puckering. I had a hard time picking out the malt background of this beer. It tastes almost completely two row, with a ‘touch’ of toasted malt. The finish is quite hoppy and lingers nicely. It does not cloy with bitterness, its not sweet or dry either. Just well balanced and fantastic.

I recommend this to almost any hop head lover, although if you are a hop head, no doubt you’ve heard of stone and their fantastic beers.

9/10

Baron’s Wattle seed ale – black wattle superior.

So I’ve never heard of wattle seed before and have no earthly idea what it is. However, I must say, that this is a GREAT pint. Imported from Australia.

This pint pours dark, and looks overly aggressive on the roasted malt side, but I was pleased that it did not taste like that.

Rich aroma; very malt forward with nice chocolate notes and a hint of black licorace. Low-er corbonation which helps accent the sweetness of the malt.

Upon tasting, this beer first presents itself as a mild carbonic bite on the tounge, then it dissipates, coats, and unleashes a very full bodied flavor. I taste strong chocolate, hint of roast, and a spicyness that I cant place. Its almost tastes like the sting you get from a good cinnamon, but very, very mild. Quite rich, but not overwhelming. It must be the wattle seed or the yeast.

Very smooth beer. It is a sweet beer, but leaves your mouth dry. It may be a combination of the chocolate malt and the wattle seed that does it, but it leaves you wanting another sip.

The finish is nice with a lingering chocolate flavor. Somewhat like semi-sweet; not bitter, not sweet, but nicely in between.

Hops are very, very subtle if there at all. I love the flavor of this beer. Wish I could get it back home!!

8 out of 10.

Genessee Bock

This is a great beer. I love rich lagers and have brewed several of them myself. But this one is great.

Upon pouring, it has a great head, but dissapates farily fast (could be because of the glass), it has a rich malty bready aroma that has some light toasty notes. Its color is a deep red, almost black, but has a great clarity that allows that discernment. Upon tasting, the initial carbonic bite is solid, but it smoothens out with a great bready malty rich taste. Very easy drinking, and not sweet. I can tell this is a big beer, and its got a good amount of dextrins to it, but is nowhere near cloying.

This is a great beer. Perfect for a springtime evening, or a fall afternoon. Its nice smooth finish would be great all year round though. I think I'll have another!

8/10

Wildmer Hefeweizen

This one caught my eye the other day. I had never heard of it before, but I like hefeweizens.

Upon pouring, big yeasty aroma, nice frothy white head. It had a golden yellow color. Nice and cloudy. The bottle was still ripe too, the yeast weren't clumping and autolysing which sometimes happens with old heffeweizens.

It seemed just perfect for a spring afternoon. This beer has a smooth spicy character with a nice dry finish. It tasted a little cool for my tastes, so I let it sit for a while to warm up, and I was rewarded when it did. Wonderful esters exploded into my mouth. Orange, lemon, with a banana finish. Complementing the smooth, sweet, yeasty taste. Spices lingered on the side of my tounge for several minutes. All the while frothy white head lingered nicely.

Great beer. I love the fruity esters. Pick this one up for sure.

7 out of 10.

Bell's Pale Ale

Let me be frank: I love Bell's beers. This is my favorite brewery in the whole world. They make interesting beers, that have such awesome subtle flavors. The Pale Ale is no exception.

Malty aroma, without being sweet. Wonderful bouquet of fruity esters; not overpowering though. Big frothy white head. Very mild yet spicy aroma. The malt really comes through, as well as the spicy phenols from the yeast. Tasting is a similar experience. This is a well balanced beer, but the emphasis is on the malt. The finish is very malty. Its a smooth drinking beer with a lot of character.

I don't think they use any specialty malts; all pale ale malt. It tastes like British marris otter, but I'm not sure.

Overall this is a great pale ale. If you like pale ales, I would recommend trying it. Its definitely got some spice to it; this represents Bell's unique twist on this classic style.

9 out of 10.

Big River Red Ale

This is a red ale that won a 2006 GABF gold medal in the red/amber American ale category. I picked it up at my favorite beer store (JJ's). Red ales are quite tasty. I've made a couple of them myself (one for my wedding that got rave reviews).

Upon opening the bottle, and pouring, the head just vanished. I'm sure it wasn't residue on my glasses. However, this beer gave off a nice citrusy hop aroma, that turned malty. Very intresting. I can defiantly tell they used cascades (as they say on the bottle) but its got a nice subdued character that's balanced by the malt aroma, not too much one or the other.

Tasting this beer was less appealing. It had a sharp carbonic bite up front, with a subtle citrus hop character, that turned quite sweet. It was balanced well, with a mild bitterness, but the bitterness didn't power through to the finish. Because of this finishing sweetness, it ended up being a bit cloying at the end. Its a quite clean beer that doesn't really have much malt flavor.

While some people may really love this beer, it didn't do it for me. Its got this residual sweetness that I just don't find especially appealing. Its almost like an extract beer (not that they're bad... its just a character). Now that being said, in no way would I refuse to drink this if someone handed me one. Lets be honest here.

Overall, some people may really like this beer, I didn't find it especially appealing, but its ok.

5 out of 10

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale

I've had a few of Samuel Smith's beer's before but haven't had the opportunity to try this one yet. English Style Ales have appealed to me recently, and I've had relative success brewing them. Ah, but I digress.

This beer came as a full Pint (550mL), which is quite fun.

I bought it from my favorite beer store, where it was in a cooler, so I let it warm up a bit before I cracked it open. English ales are best served a little warmer (~45-50F). It helps bring out the full flavors.

As you can see, a nice pour, very copper color. It had a thick white head, which lingered pretty long. Clear, with lower carbonation.

A strong caramel aroma greets the nose, hops are almost non-existant, except for a nice earthy undertone. The aroma smells of maple syrup, plums, (hints of black cherry?); probably due to the crystal malt. English yeast make wonderful esters during fermentation that lend a rich boquet of aromas to these beers.

Upon tasting, the beer is malty and smooth. Quite sweet, yet not cloying. It does this wonderful dissapearing act inside your mouth; Coating the tounge with rich dextrins and then scurries to the rear, where it vanishes, leaving you wanting more. The finish is nice, with earthy undertones and bitterness from the hops. This is a very balanced beer. Its malt forward, but not too sweet.

Personally, Its quite enjoyable. I like English Ales, but I'm not a fan of crystal malt. However, this beer pulls it off nicely. It balances that caramelly sweetness with a drying bitter finish that doesn't cloy. It makes you want that entire Pint after just one sip! 8 out of 10.

Science and beer?

I'm starting this blog for several reasons.

First, I want to learn how to write better. I'm a graduate student and one of the most important things about being in science, is learning how to effectively communicate your results with the world.

Second, Science is a passion of mine. Rarely do I find a scientific article, news piece, talk that is not interesting. I want a forum to summarize my ideas about things, and hopefully teach others what I have learned from reading scientific literature.

Lastly, I'm a huge fan of beer. Its fun to learn about, explore, and consume. Now, I'm not a raging alcoholic (I rarely have more than 1 beer a day, if at all), but I really enjoy talking and learning about the science of making beer and creating the interesting flavors that develop from this process. To this end, I want a forum to write about the flavors I uncover when I drink a beer, so I'm going to try and write objectively about what I taste. I'm also an avid homebrewer (I make beer in my basement... yes, its legal) and part of the fun is creating new recipes, making them, and sharing the beer with friends.

I hope you enjoy reading this site.

Sincerely,
-Jud Schneider