 wheninhell (477), louisville, Kentucky, USA
Sep 26, 2007
black body with dark brown edges. nice big dark tan head that settles into a thin film and eventually disappears. big piney grapefruit aroma with a hint of toffee and a touch of chocolate. bitter piney grapefruit flavor with a hint of toffee and chocolate. very bitter lasting finish with some toffee notes. finish very dry. alcohol present. medium to full body with a somewhat creamy but lively mouth feel. not bad.....just over the top bitter. it needs more balance and subtlety. im gonna have to age a couple of these for a year or two just to see if this stuff gets a little more balanced.
changeup45 (563), Orlando, Florida, USA
Aug 30, 2008 I can’t comment on how this beer was when it was first released but I can say that one year later it is really good and seems to have aged well. Pours a deep brown color with some red in it but from the side it looks almost black. A thin tan head with some lace sticking. The aroma right away is strong hops, lots of pine and some grapefruit with also some caramel malt sneaking in there and really this is an excellent intro to what the beer is going to taste like. The flavors, strong typical Stone quality hop profile, bitter, pine needles, citrus, with lots of roasted caramel malt and maybe even a dash of molasses in the finish. A bit chewy and dry. Wow, great beer. I’m glad I got to try it and now only wish I could get some more.
darn1207 (244), Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Aug 27, 2008 september 07 bomber from new beer distributors in manhattan. black pour with a tint of amber. medium creamy tan head with lots of stick. ipa aroma to it with citrus and piney hops. taste dominated by hops - though the malts must be there in force, because it somehow seems balanced. hints of dark chocolate. thinnish and creamy palate. woody bitter hop finish. light tingly carbonation. great stuff. K-8
Changed (68), Ithaca, New York, USA
Aug 21, 2008 22oz bottle labeled Sept. 2007. Pours beautiful black, with tan head that lingers. Nice, glimmering lacing. Roasty-smell, taste also reflects roasty toasty-ness(?), dark fruits, and perhaps some coffee or chocolate? Very complex beer, tastes amazing, good amount of carbonation for a beer this dark. Finishes smooth, and the aftertaste produces varying flavors to savor as you watch your Trappist glass empty!
great beer
skoisirius (474), Seattle, Washington, USA
Aug 19, 2008 22 oz bottle around its release date and around July 20th, 2008. Ahhhh, I love it when beers are this good. This pours a silky looking black with lots of carbonation leading to a nice tar looking retentive head. Some of my fondest beer aroma memories come from allowing my nose to open up to the sweet yet bitter and roasty notes of the aroma that comes blasting off this one. Its like a blended of hoppy banana almost...absolutely amazing! The flavor continues to impress bringing a thick malt coating to the palate before balancing it out with tons of roasted malt mixed with a HUGE hop blast! You can reeeeally tell this one is dry-hopped, even a year on it didn’t take away from the bliss! Almost liquoricey in the finish...this beer is just that GOOD. Now I just need to find more! Hahahaha...
JMFG (1117), Florida, USA
Aug 15, 2008 Bottle from Secret Santa. Dark chestnut brown with a 1 cm thick off-white head. Nice mix of rich peppery grapefruit rind hops and sweet dark bready malts. Taste is definitely hop forward, even after a year. Citric hop bite with a hint of caramel and toast. Strikes an interesting and tasty balance.
Also tried @ RBSG, on cask with wet simcoe hops (my score still reflects the bottle), which kicked in a robust hop aroma, and tipped the scales to the hop side, but still worked wonderfully.
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