Stone Thirteenth Anniversary Ale

Perhaps thirteen is an unlucky number for some. But for Stone it is just another chance to break from the norm as their ever creative and tireless mission of challenging our taste buds and palettes to aspire to new craft brew heights is furthered with this latest celebratory creation.

Pouring surprisingly dark with a moderate head, number 13 has an unexpectedly bright and rich aroma that one would expect to see with a much lighter or amber colored beer. The taste brings a level of complexity and creativity that leaves you feeling inspired and in awe. The front end tingles with bright juicy hops that act like a quick sting before settling into the darker tannins of a more cascade like hop that is rich with hop flavor. A lifetime seems to pass as the hops evolve into a roasted, toasted grain, which asks like that beautiful librarian, who in your dreams is far more reckless and much less concerned with silence: "chocolate?" Finally, that sweetness turns bittersweet to give one last arrogant kiss before parting adieu.

What can I say? Stone is all growns up. Not only have they entered into their teenage years, they have become a force to be reckoned with in the craft beer world. Perhaps most impressive is their unfaltering dedication to the quality and consistency of their beer while recognizing the transforming world that we live in. Even their trademark novela, which adorns all of their bottles – and yes, I read every one – references the fact that they respect beer-o-philes' decisions to drink locally in a troubled economy such as this one. Bravo and mazeltov, hats off to you for this one Stone.


Thirteenth Anniversary Ale: *****

Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA

I was a little dubious of this beer having been relatively unimpressed by it's potency on tap at the LA CABAL craft brew fest a few months ago. Perhaps I went in with expectations too high, or I had too many beers that day to truly distinguish and savor this brew. But I walked away that day uncertain about this strange creation. So imagine my surprise when I popped the top on this beastlyness and found that Stone had knocked another wall down in the quest to reinvent beer. As you approach the body you prepare your palette for some crazy intense stout that will dominate your stomach and tastebuds. Instead, your tongue does flips when the weight of the stout is replaced by malt and the finish is replenished by fresh hop flavor. On second consideration, this beer offers a beautiful and unique hop flavor, that is half built on surprise and sustained on fresh, citrus beauty. An absolutely unique creation from the ever inventive Stone.


To be fair to the brewers, when Chris and I tried this we were about 4 deep, which explains the rather short review and drunken pictures. Writing drunk is tough!


Sublimely Self- Righteous Black IPA: ****1/2

Anderson Valley 20th Anniversary Imperial IPA

Crazy apples run abound in this 20th anniversary Imperial from Anderson Valley. A small headed, orange bodied Imperial, this beer impresses with its fine tuned taste and sweetness. The front end is like biting a sweet apple carried on crystal malt. The hops seem to hitch a ride on that malt train and raise their head as the beer settles and swallows into the palette. They are of the darker variety that settle underneath the tongue and mix bitter and spice to leave a lingering sensation of the sweet apple that started the journey. All that spice and sweetness lends itself to a good fall brew, but I wonder if the balance could have been more even. A well constructed beer, but I would expect a better name from this long standing giant among craft brewers.

Chris demonstrates a perfect pour.


20th Anniversary Imperial IPA: ***1/2

Team photo

Just made a trip to beverage warehouse, here's the loot.

Beer floats

So first off, I feel it necessary to at least mention the fact that it has been a very long time since I last blogged. For those of you that know me, I've had a fairly hectic couple months and what with the relocation, I fell a little out of the habit of brewing, blogging, but never drinking. So after a long hiatus, here's a couple reviews to enjoy.

After reading a post by @ChipperDave (http://www.fermentedlychallenged.com/2008/12/who-is-chipperdave.html) about making beer floats, I was motivated to try making my own.

I used that devil Rasputin mixed with Chocolate ice cream, thinking that would be a nice combo.

Here's my brother prepping the floats.

At first we used only a little beer with about a scoop and a half of ice cream and it was mixing enough, so we used more beer.

Overall, no one was too enthusiastic about the combo. Maybe too much beer, maybe just the wrong type. The hops and the bite seemed to take away from the creamy sweet side of the ice cream. However, the malts mixed well. So I was left wondering if another beer wouldn't be better. Maybe Rogue's Chocolate Stout??

That being said, my mom still enjoyed it.

As did my brother.

The man, the myth, the legend...

Green Flash Le Freak

The aroma is as advertised, west coast style hops blended with Belgian Trippel and the seam between the two is invisible to my big nose. Another addition to the popular fusion that is taking over the beer scene: IPA meets Belgian. Not being as much of a Belgian fan, I'm not as skilled at describing the flavors and knowing what I should be tasting for. However, what I will say is this: the front end has a characteristic sweetness that I've known from Trippels; that sort of pungent overripe plum. But just as the fruit begins to unleash its most pungent, viscious tannons, it evens out, and ever so slightly melds into a recognizable mix of hops and barley. The hops are bright, although subdued by the fruit immersion and subsequently the bitter kick follows similarly like a muffled instrument. Interestingly, the sweeter part of the brew has it's own kick that sort of spirals up right into the nose and back down again rather than into the throat and back up under the tongue. I have to admit when I think about the visual that description creates via "taste-o-graph," I like the balanced flow. Given my general disinterest in Belgians, this seems like a fine compromise.



Le Freak: ****

LA Cabal Craft Beer Festival

This weekend was the LA Cabal's first Craft Beer Festival. It was a pretty incredible turnout, those of us who were not fortunate enough to get advance tickets had a to wait in line for an hour. But luckily, it looked like everyone got in. Below are thoughts, photos, and beers from the fest. At the very end, I've listed everything that was on tap.

The Echoplex was packed, but it didn't take long to get a brew.



All the brewerys were California based and quite a few were San Diego based. Here are the beers I sampled:
Coronado - Islander IPA
Stone - Sublimely Self Righteous, Black IPA
Lagunitas - Old Gnarleywine
TAPS - Barleywine
Ballast Point - Big Eye IPA
Ballast Point - Yellow Tale Pale Ale
Pizza Port - Pig Dog Pale Ale
Hangar 24 - IPA


A lot of interesting beers on tap and a few new Breweries that I learned about. I can't say that I tried anything that blew my mind, but everything was quality made. My favorites were the ever-creative Stone's Black IPA, Lagunitas' Gnarleywine, TAPS's Barleywine, and Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA. There were also some rotating taps that I missed, but supposedly went quickly. Obviously, the Green Flash Westcoast IPA and Stone's Arrogant Bastard would have been among my favorites as well, however, with all the new beers to try, I decided to save those for another ocassion. I have 22s of the Black IPA and the Gnarleywine, so I'll be reviewing them soon. I've listed all the beers at the end of the blog.

Happy beer fest revellers.


There were a number of food vendors there with free chips, pizza, burritos, and other good grub. Among the ones I knew were, The Golden State, Masa, the LA Burrito Project, and Hot Knives. The guys above had some sweet candied nuts they were handing out, went great with the beer.

The beer goodness was more than this guy could handle.

People ate and drank outside by the taco truck, Taco Zone, if you ever catch these guys on Alvarado outside of Vons, try their Suadero.

The beer kept flowing, the good times kept coming.

A special shout out to these guys, Hot Knives, who do a blog on all sorts of good items, but are special in my heart for their love of beer and pairing it with homeade cheese.

As they, prepped the cheese, a serious crowd gathered around.

I wish I could tell what all these cheeses were, but it was loud and I was drunk...

...and the crowd gathering around the table was foaming at the mouth. And by far one of the most amazing things I've ever seen was when they put the cheese out for everyone to eat.

It was like a shark feeding frenzy! People wolfed down cheese and were climbing over each other to get their hands on some.

Luckily, I was able to knock out a few people and get my hands on some. Then I realized what all the fuss was about. Paired with beer or even on its own, this was some mighty fine cheese.

Here are the beers that were on tap, numbers at the end are alcohol percentage:
1. Stone - Arrogant Bastard, 7.2
2. Stone - Sublimely Self Righteous, Black IPA, 8.7
3. Blind Lady - Automatic #1, Belgian style single with spices, 5.6
4. Green Flash, West Coast IPA, 7
5. Green Flash, Trippel, 8.5
6. Craftsman - Scotch Isle Ale, 7
7. Craftsman - Edgar's Ale, 8.2
8. Hangar 24 - Orange Wheat
9. Hangar 24 - IPA, 7
10. Lagunitas - Olde GnarleyWine, Barleywine, 9.7
11. Coronado - Orange Ave. Ale, 5.8
12. Coronado - Islander IPA, 7
13. TAPS - Belgian White
14. TAPS - Barleywine, 9.8
15. Ballast Point - Yellow Tale Pale Ale 4.6
16. Ballast Point - Big Eye IPA, 6
17. Firestone Walker - Double Barrel Ale, 5
18. Firestone Walker - Rotating tap
19. Pizza Port (Carlsbad) - Warm Water Wheat, Bavarian-style Hefeweizen, 5.5
20. Pizza Port (San Clemente) - Pig Dog Pale Ale, 5.6
21. Uncommon Brewers - Siamese Twin, Belgian style Dubbel, 8.5
22. Uncommon Brewers - Golden State, Belgian style Golden, 6.4
23. Sierra Nevada - Summerfest, 5
24. Sierra Nevada - ESB, 5.9
25. Telegraph - White Ale, 4.5
26. Telegraph - Rhinoceros, Rye Barleywine, 10
27. The Bruery - Tradewinds Triple, 7.5
28. The Bruery - Cuvee Jeune, Young Lambic, 6