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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A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a four-finger thick, richly browned, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite dark in color, near black but with some dark chocolate notes to it. The beer shows quite opaque when held up to the light, but does show a touch of a concentrated amber hue around the edges. The aroma smells quite interesting; fruity, a sort of anise like character, a bit of herbal notes, some definite prune, green peppercorn and something a bit like herbal coriander. A touch of dark malt adds a hint of roast towards the end; it gets wrapped up in the fruit character and comes off as burnt prune and perhaps burnt caramel more than anything. Other dark malt notes that are more sweet make the entirety that is this beers aroma remind me of a rich, black, dense, very sweet, spice cake / bread.

Smooth tasting, creamy and viscous up front, the beer finishes with some roast grain bitterness, some spicy notes and a lingering, almost chalk-like, cocoa and toasted malt character. This is fairly sweet (though it finishes dry because of the previously mentioned character), which accentuates notes of prunes and dried figs. A soft, but firm bitterness helps the spices in the finish balance out the up front sweetness and fruit character, though the latter is definitely the dominant note in this beer. This is most definitely a sipping beer, what with the sweetness, the spices and the medium body; it is not overly heavy for its strength though.

Wow, I am quite a bit more impressed with this beer than I was expecting. To be honest, when I purchased this beer I figured it would be another hoppy, dark beer. I really like the interplay of spices and dark malt character here; this ended up pretty darn tasty and the whole thing really reminds me of a rich, black, dense, very sweet, spice cake / bread. The spices can be a little strong here (though so can the rest of the beer) and I am glad that I am splitting this bottle of beer (the alcohol contributes to this as well). And the smaller portions make this a great dessert beer (I bet you it would be quite tasty as a vanilla ice cream beer float).

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