21st Amendment / Firestone Walker / Stone El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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This was pretty good. Reminded me somewhat of an imperial stout. Chocolate, coffee, spice, and roasted malt flavors. Good complex aroma.

A deep dark earthy ASA. Pours a deep dark brown with a nose of dry hops and malts. This was a great beer fresh and I’m hoping that the one I saved will be even better (a touch less hot and more balanced) with a year or 2 on it.

Poured a dark brown with a graham cracker head. Light carbonation. Aroma is hoppy, citrus, herbs with some warmer notes as well, some bread and chocolate. Taste is hoppy, some solvent, chocolate and coffee on the back end. Palate is clean and light. Some friends had bragged on this beer and I know why. It looks good and tastes great.

[September 1, 2010]
Picked up a growler of this from CBX and enjoyed first thing the next morning. What a treat with some country pudding loaf for breakfast and USA kicking some Iranian butt on the FIBA court. Just by cracking open the lid on the growler the hops are noticed immediately. Really, I could smell this stuff about 5 feet away from the growler fill station back at the Beer Exchange. A closer sniff reveals so much more than hops. There are subtle underlying notes of fruit, spice and nuts. It’s so unique I honestly have trouble figuring out exactly what is going on. I can tell you that I approve. The flavor is just as standout and different. Something reminds me of coconut with a sharp herbal bitterness. The finish is roasty, bitter and somehow smoothly fruity all at the same time. I’m still delightfully confused by this one. I’d like to have more. Tremendous offering and invigorating in its individuality.

Bottle. Pour is almost black with a creamy lingering brown head. Really looks more like stout than ASA. Aroma is also quite stouty with lots of creamy roasted malt, light coconut, faint vanilla, and light toffee. The aroma is rich and wonderful. Flavor is also full of roasted malt with coffee in the finish. Also notes of vanilla, light spice, and chocolate. Wow, this was quite a nice surprise.

Yup! Shes a black one with a tall lingering flat top. Smells of cocoa. Full nectar with excellent carbonation. Big cocoa, roasted nuts and wafers, and brown licorice?? The finish has a nice bittering component. Good stuff.

12oz bottle. Pours a deep coffee brown / black with a small beige head, nice lacing. Interesting peppers and spices on the nose as well as nice piny hops and toasted malts. Flavor was much of the same with a nice roasty hop bitterness in the finish.

Draught at Craft Heads. Black - brown head.  Burned. Fruity. Chocolate. Coffee. Vineous. High malty. Nice high hoppy. Light sharpness. Oily. Fullbodied. Long lasting bitterness. 

Pour from the bottle gave a black color with a modest tan head.Aromas detectable were sweet malt and licorice. Tasty flavors of roasted smoky malt, fig, bitter hops, fennel, and spice. Long complex finish and not overpowering.Fairly dry and bitter finish. Excellent solid beer.

Black as hell with a vivacious tan head. The aroma is chocolate, roast, licorice, lactic, boozy, peppery, and rich. Tons of dark fruit and dark sugars- caramel and molasses swirl together with plum and fig in a beautiful way. The flavor is a sweet concoction of molasses, caramel, toffee, and delicious incarnations of lactic sweet chili chocolate. Dark fruit is simply massive. The palate is epically thick and rich. Supple, smooth, silky, and velvety. An amazing concoction.