JohnQPublic (79), Brooklyn, New York, USA
Mar 31, 2008
Bottle. Pours coppery orange, with a very thin, lacy off-white head. Aroma is sweet caramel, citrus and pine hops, hint of alcohol. Flavor is more big malt and caramel up front, followed by a big pine and resin hoppiness, with a very sweet back end before a fairly high bitterness, lasting hops finish. Mouthfeel is very big, a bit sticky, moderate carbonation, not too thick. Chewy, as the previous reviewer noted. Good beer, very interesting balance.
tuohyam (14), Enumclaw, Washington, USA
Jul 13, 2008 Maybe the best beer I’ve had. A step beyond the regular bastard which is already a classic.
 colemgm8 (347), Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
Jul 12, 2008 ’07 bomber. I would call this a Barley Wine... pours a deep red with very little head which quickly dissipates. strong aroma filled with a touch of alcohol, dark fruits and sweet sugar. huge hop profile, especially on the finish, but is well hidden by the dominating malts. as soon as it hits your tongue, you can feel the huge body character behind this beer. very full and round.... filled with dynamic qualities of a world class beer. sweet and spicy on the front, very soft on the sides and thick and malty on the top with caramel, citrus, candi sugar, dark fruits and a touch of oak. Wonderful strong, sticky hop filled finish that sticks with you.... sticky and sweet.
RollinHard (502), Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Jul 10, 2008 Pours a dark brownish ruby with a moderate sized tan head. Aroma of grapefruit, tofee, toast, butter, pine-soaked caramel candies. Big malty taste hides the hops a bit. Sweet caramel dominates with brown sugar, grapefruit, and a very Stone-esque earthy hop flavor. Finishes with buttery hops and toasty aftertaste. Thick and full-feeling, pretty nice stuff.
sethdude (515), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Jul 5, 2008 Smells a lot like oaked bastard, caramel sweetness and strong hops. Flavor is much sweeter than regular, almost sticky sweet with big bitter hops on top, almost doesn’t pull it off, but somehow, it works. There’s not much here we haven’t seen before, though this is well made if not well formulated. With this current brewing trend of "More is better", sometimes, more is just more. Good, but not great.
badbeer (397), Iowa, USA
Jul 5, 2008 Dark red, maybe a bit brown in color, fitted with an off-white colored head behind some sticky lacing. Fruity smell as well as a smell I can only describe as rotten pine. Taste was good and hoppy, certainly a nice malt base here too. I do have to say some of the bitterness had some harshness to it; harshness does not equal badass. Heavier side of medium bodied and a medium amount of carbonation. Overall, good beer for sure, but I can’t help but think a different hop choice could make this so much better. Don’t take the above comment the wrong way, it’s just my opinion and Stone does a damn fine job as it is. Would buy again.
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