Bruery / Elysian / Stone La Citrueille Cèleste de Citracado

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Escondido, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

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Sampled on tap at 1702, Tucson; December 2011
One finger thick, dark tan colored head sits on top of a dark, concentrated brown amber that could be mistaken for black in low light. Lightly burnt raisin, deeply toasted brown sugar encrusted caramelized brown bread crust and a citrus note somehow that is a bit like Meyer lemon or not quite floral orange zest. The aroma also has a fair amount of woodiness to it that is quite soft. As the beer warms the spice character becomes quite dominant.

Softly rounded caramelized and toasted malt character up front quickly yields to an ample spiciness that has a sharpness not unlike a turpene laden spice that almost has a woody character to it. The finish is actually quite spicy, it significantly dries out the finish, but seems to be a bit too sharp at times; the spice character reminds me of the sharp, woody notes in cardamom (and it makes me realize that I really don’t know what fenugreek smells / tastes like). The finish also has a brightness to it from a lemon zest like flavor. The body is fairly light, keeping this pretty quaffable, though the spices seem to slow this down a bit.

Especially as the beer warms, it is a bit too dominated by the spiciness here; this clashes a bit with the toasted, slightly roasted malt character as well. Not bad, and if you like spice beers this should be pretty enjoyable, there just isn’t quite enough base beer character here to support the level of spicing.

Lemon citrus with pumpkiny notes earthy notes as well. Very interesting. Pours brown thin tan head. Flavors of toasted/roasted yams or something pumpkin lemon citrus light sweetness brown sugar. Little lemon in finish. Way better than i expected it to be.

Clear burnt orange color with lasting tan head. Earthy, nutty, cooked yam, roasted pumpkin, lemon citrus aromas. Light bodied. Lightly sweet, earthy roasted pumpkin seed, yam, herbal flavors in a caramel base brew--good.

Nice, slightly hazy deep rich brown coloured body with a two centimetre tall light brown head - very nice looking. Aroma of malt, brown sugar, lavender, chocolate and a bit of grass - intresting and strong. Medium-bodied; Assertive squash flavour at first with some chocolate and pungent earthiness, some metal and a hint of raisins. Aftertaste shows some complexity with a bunch of sugars competing with the earthy bitterness. Overall, a super interesting beer but doesn’t really work out too well. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Chicago (Lincoln Park), Illinois on 04-December-2011 for US$3.99 sampled at home after Chelsea’s Champions’ League victory on 19-May-2012.

12 oz. bottle from alexsdad06- thanks again, Brad! Pours a hazy, deep brownish amber with a small off-white head that settles into a ring with some filmy swirls. Aroma of ginger, birch, yams, pumpkin, herbs and spices (must be the fenugreek and lemon verbena), and toasted nuts. Flavor of toasted nuts, earth, pumpkin, yams, birch, and the same spices and herbs but to a lesser degree. Light-bodied, with an earthy, toasty, herbal mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. Hard to explain. Interesting beer; lot going on and some new ingredients to me.

12 oz bottle from Capone’s. Poured a deep maroon body with an average to slightly large frothy light beige head. Although this one looked good there is just something about the color of the body on this one that reminds me of cough syrup so the color itself I am not a fan of. Aroma is complex and hard to nail down. It’s definitely malt forward with lots fo brown bread and then a touch of chocolate along with a perfumey floral quality thaqt develops some sweetness with warmth. Fuller bodied with avergae carbonation and a solid mouthfeel and an avergae duration on the aftertaste. Flavor is dry brown bread, touch of chocolate, earth, some dry sweet notes, hint of toffee. No clue what fenugreek or lemon verbena is but this is a nicely complex beer for a 5%er.

A Sim rate (bottle thanks to Steve & Kim): We were lucky to try this straight from the tank at Stone last year and I remember it being very herbal - sage, rosemary and tons of lemon. The herbs are still there but a bit more subtle now which actually works better. I’m sure that was the idea! Aroma is all verbena. Nice and sour with verbena again in the flavour. Sweet & sour mix together in a great way. I really like this. Completely drinkable but something different at the same time.

Pours a dark bronze with Malty hops on the nose. Smell of toasted nuts, and other spices. Very creamy and malty with potent lemon and yam. No pumpkin flavors though. Thought this would be more of a pumpkin ale, but whatever, it’s not too bad. Almost like a good English, or Christmas Ale. Real good!

Draught Coppery clear amber, no head left. Nutty nose, leaves, earthy, Bock-like. Earthy, clay, autumn leaves, good (bark)spicy bitter finish, partly hops, partly hearbal. Medium bodied, very light slickness. Interesting, very difficult to place for me. Small wonder seen the ingredients.

Bottle. Better than the impression left by the ingredients list, which seem like the ingredients for a survival drink. Light herbed aroma. Dark brown with thin lasting head. Medium bodied, more herbs and a bit of lemon. Some yamminess in the finish

a little light on the aroma. good nutmeg, citrus, and some interesting malts.. not quite smoky not quite chocolatey, but very present. slight pumpkin taste but thought that it would be more obvious. all in all a good experiment but i could only drink one