F & M StoneHammer IPA

Brewed by F & M Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Guelph, Canada

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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3rd annual Ontario Cask IPA Challenge tasted blind. Deep amber ruddy/ruby pour. The aroma is very chewy with a bit of stone fruit and a really odd cheesy funk. Assertive bitterness and an almost fishy/flabby flavour. Earthy and chewy but definitely not something I’d seek out again.

A lightly hazed copper IPA with a thick big bubbled off white head. In aroma, sweet caramel malt with strawberry notes, grassy hops. In mouth, a weird grassy and peaty malt, wood extract, doughy, floral hops, weird. Cask at Ontario Cask IPA Challenge, April 21, 2012.

Cask, at C’est What Spring Festival, May 29, 2010. Opaque amber with a decent off-white head. Aroma has a subtle sweetness mixed with hop pungency. Taste is buttery but pleasing in its hop bite. Very decent attempt here.

Cask at Volo. Pours a murky orange-amber with no head. Aroma is hoppy yes, but a bit buttery as well, along with some fruit, caramel malt and a hint of spices. Luckily the hops balance out the butteryness and it works, it smells pretty good. Flavour of lightly spicy hops backed by caramel malt, some fruitiness and a long average bitter finish. Medium bodied. Pretty good, I enjoyed it, though it would be great if it had less of the buttery quality to it.

UPDATED: APR 29, 2012 [2882-20100528] Tap. Crumbly toast yeast aroma is like smooth bread. Hazy, red amber body with a medium-lasting foamy white head. Bitter smooth yeast flavour has a long yeast bread aftertaste. Medium body. Tasty. (7/3/8/3/16) 3.7
(CWSF 2010 @ C’est What, Toronto, ON)

[4400B-20120422] Cask. Mild orange lemon juicy hops aroma. Slightly hazy, bet orange body with a quick bubbly head. Citrus orange pips and grainy bitter cardboard wood flavour. Medium body. Just a little rough with that woody note but otherwise drinkable. (7/3/6/3/13) 3.2
Overheard: "It’s in her somewhere, I was just touching it."
(#7 IPA Challenge @ Volo, Toronto, ON)

Cask, at C’Est What Spring Festival, May 29, 2010. Somewhat cloudy amber pour with an average frothy/creamy off-white head. Smells sweet - a bit like Avery Maharajah (not as bitter or good, but has that almost cloying malt character to it) - not bad; floral, maybe a bit papery. Taste is ... oh dear, we’ve got butter/caramel - the floral bitterness and fruit character try, but the diacetyl wins out. Average in most ways, a little drying, and the paper/butter character sticks around after the beer departs - I know it’s fresh, but it seemed pretty generic and weirdly stale.

Cask at C’est What 2010 Spring Festival. Pours a dark amber with small off-white head. Mild citrus hops and caramel malt in the aroma. Taste is nicelay balanced between citric hops and caramel malt. Dry, moderately bitter finish. Nice.

On cask at Cest What ? Spring festival 2010
Appearance: amber-red with mid white top. Good looking. 3+
Aroma: quiet fruity for IPA. Hops were quiet muted especially for intended style. 5+.
Flavour/Body/Palate: mid bodied. Enough malty with good body to be substantial. As in aroma hops were muted. Decent ale per se but IPA ?

UPDATED: APR 25, 2012 2012-04-21. Sweetish aroma, malt, muted citrus, mild herbal earthy notes. 6+ Lightly haze dark orange body with a small off-white head. Sweetish flavour, bit of caramel, mild herbal hop character. Okay, it gives more of an English character to it, and is fairly mild overall. Average body with light carbonation. Also listed as "Pun WIth The Word Hop In It IPA". 7/3/6/3/13 Blind Tasting on Cask at Volo IPA Challenge

2010-05-30. Hazy dark orange body, near headless. 3+ Modest aroma, interesting citrus undertones, muddled leafy notes, touch of alcohol. 7+ Flavour is similar, with modest orange sweetness, and leafy character throughout. 7+ Smooth medium palate is lightly carbonated. 3+ Much superior to the sample I had at C’est What two days prior. 7+/3+/7+/4/15-16 Blind Tasting at Volo, Toronto

2010-05-28. Dark orange amber body, modest beige head. 3+ Flavour is sweeter than expected, citrusy hops, oranges, modest bitterness starts slow and grows a bit 7+. Modest aroma, mild citrusy hops, light fruit character. Smooth average plus bodied palate. Decent, I wanted more bitterness. My notes are more generous than my memory of it was, and others liked it more than I did so I hope to revisit this one at some point, preferably on tap. 7/3/7/4/15 Cask at C’est What, Toronto

Cask at C’est What Spring Cask Festival. Neutral aroma, smooth drinker, very drinkable.