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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Sampled on 4/9/2010. This American Strong Ale pours a deep black color from a 12oz bottle. Medium sized tan head with nice lacing. The aroma is chocolate malts, coffee and some hops. A medium bodied ASA. The malts are chocolate, coffee, dark fruit and some spices. The hops are earthy. Nice sipping beer. Interesting beer it has definite stout/porter/schrawzbier qualities to it, yet its different. The spices add some interesting and some what indefinable qualities to the flavor. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Dark brown in color, tan head. Big hops floral and fruity aroma. Nice spices rich malt flavors. Thick flavors well balanced a very good brew.

Bottle. Black colour with a tan head. Aroma is coffee, spices, caramel, roasted malt. Flavour is coffee, fruit, alcohol, spices, caramel, roasted malt. Very nice beer.

Gedronken in Brussel bij moeder Lambic, zwart dus 3, ruikt naar koffie, drop en caramel (zoet). Typische stout, maar wel met veel smaak.

Old Review from 2010 - El Camino pours a lot like a stout. It’s almost pitch black. A two finger tan head pours and leaves a line of lacing around the glass. The issue with this beer for me at least is that nothing really stands out. I had to put my nose into the beer a few times to really pick something up. What I did pick up was roasted malt, slight aroma of coffee and chocolate, and some spice kick. It stated on the bottle that the brew was made with peppercorn and fennel. So that would explain that. The taste is just more of the same. Not bad at all but just not fantastic. Once again nothing really stands out here. Up front the spices come in and are washed away by the roasted malt. I also picked up some dark fruits. Some figs mixed in with licorice. In the end your left with the taste of some alcohol and spice. The mouthfeel is dry, smooth, and medium bodied.

On tap during Stone vs Moeder Lambic. Blacker then black beer with a nice mokka head. Bit sticky head. Smelling this beer, the first thing that come to my mind was: green. In the mouth you get a soft bitter coffee flavour, herbs. It reminds me a bit of the Sint-Amatus the Struise Brewers make, but this one is a bit more gentle, sofisticated.

Surprisingly burnt, a bit harsh. The malt dominates, but some spice, oak, cherry come through with a bit of smoke and fig. The fig is noteworthy, the rest of the additions are smashed behind the malt flavor. Dense and a bit thick on the palate. Surprisingly nice carbonation considering the density. Worth a try.

Dark plum/mahogany color with tan head. Soft nose of figs, dates, and caramel. Taste is more of the same with added baker’s chocolate, molasses, coffee, and nuts. Medium-thick body with good carbonation. Musty, somewhat hot finish. Very complex. Nice.

Pours nearly black with a good tan head. The nose is really nice and brings forward some citrus and tropical hops as well as a bit of pine. Roasted malt with a bit of chocolate in there, and faint hints of pepper. Nice mouthfeel with a bit of spice. Nice roast and bitter characteristics playing off one another. Quite drinkable; a very nice collaboration that wasn’t taken too far in any one direction.

draft@Stone vs. Moeder: black with a thick mocha head, smell is lots of grapefruit and pine hops, taste is sweet with lots of fruity American hops mixed with roasted malts, bitter chocolate, caramelised coffee and pepper

Vollmundiger schokolasiger Antrunk, sehr cremig. Weiterhin äußerst vollmundig, gleichzeitig stark süffig. Bis zum Ende nur minimal alkoholisch. Harmonisch, deutliche Kafeenoten aber nur wenig Röstigkeit. Super! 13/14/13/12//13