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

Got this at Monterey Deli in SF (best specialty beer store in SF). Black body with huge soft tan head. Smells chocolatey and fruity, figs and raisins. Taste is slightly sweet, nice warming alcohol up front and in aftertaste, with chocolate, licorice, and raisiny flavors. Amazing beer. I don;t know why they call it ale, its way more like an imperial stout...

Black with huge, foamy, chocolate milkshake head / Nose of candied chocolate, tobacco, roast coffee, and toffee / Medium body, chewy, with good balance and long, dry finish / Winey flavors of roast coffee, bittersweet chocolate, fig, grass, and dry hops / Outstanding.

Starts off looking and smelling like an imperial stout. Black as night with a rocky brown head and roasty, slightly vegetal aroma. At the start when it was fairly cold, it tasted like a straight up heavy stout with good alcohol to malt balance and a mild sweetness in the background. As it warmed up, a slight vegetal flavor developed. I then tried a bit of dark chocolate and the next sip hit me with an herbal flavor like that of a fine gin! It definitely got very interesting as it warmed up! A very unique beer!

Divine beer. Great tan head: lasting, with tightly packed bubbles and thick, glass-clinging lace. Amazing texture: fully, meaty and chewy, yet not overly cloying. Creamy carbonation. Quite a bit going on in the flavor department, although the dark-roasted grains and dark chocolate stand out the most. Other notes of woodsy spices, pepper, grapefruit and grass become more evident as the beer warms. Alcohol is hidden dangerously well. Perfect amount of bitterness to cleave off the sweetness (toffee, molasses and chocolate). Wonderful beer.

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

mmmmm Yummmmm. Got a small to medium sized thick creamy foamy brown tan head with lots of lace. Color is opaque brown black. Aroma is roast malt black pepper dark ripe fruit and spices. Flavor is like aroma with well balance bittersweetness and maybe a little bit of cocoa. Don’t pick up the figs and don’t know what Chia smells like. Body is rich creamy soft and divine with great carbonation. Finish is like flavor and has a lengthy finish with warming of both alcohol and black pepper. Session for sipping. Excellent beer.

wow, great stuff! seamless style menagerie of flavors, yummy! will def pick up a few more of these!

Black with a creamy light brown head. Complex aroma of floral spices fig and chocolate with hints of pepper. Bright palate with a slightly fuzzy mouthfeel. Nice rich fruit and fig flavors earthy spices and lingering chocolate and pepper on the back end.