Stone Sandiego County Session Ale

I manage to travel around South East PA and its neighboring states quite a bit, and I always try to keep my eyes open for interesting beers. Because of this I get to try beers from a fair number of different small breweries, especially one-off batches and specialty beers. One thing I have been encouraged to see over the past year or so is a resurgence in session beers. Session beers as a whole are low alcohol beers, meant to be quaffed in large quantities over the course of an evening spent in a pub with friends; I know a couple of English expatriates who fondly recall drinking half a dozen pints a night on a regular basis, with no ill effects. The most well-known session styles are English Bitters and Milds, both of which have more of a malt focus than most American beers.

However, the basis of the microbrew revolution has, in my opinion, been the concept of “more” in your beer. More alcohol, more bitterness, more taste. While I fully support styles like the Russian Imperial Stout and Double India Pale Ale, I feel that they are a backlash against the tasteless stuff that the mega-breweries push on consumers. The problem with this is that many low alcohol styles have not gained much attention in the US even though many of them are actually very flavorful.

One of these new session beers that I’ve managed to find is the San Diego County Session Ale. This particular beer is a collaboration brew from Stone Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing Company and Kelsey McNair. Kelsey is the winner of the competition portion of the 2010 March Madness American Homebrewer Association (AHA) Rally and Homebrew Competition, which he won with his West Coast Bitter. Stone Brewing Company had offered up the brewing and distribution of the wining beer as the prize, and was represented by Mitch Steele on brew day. The third brewer, Colby Chandler of Ballast Point, was chosen by Kelsey because of his prior experience crafting other hoppy session beers in the San Diego area. The beer was brewed on July 14^th, 2010 and released on August 23^rd, 2010.

The beer poured a clear amber color, but I accidentally let some sediment into the glass, too. About a finger of white head formed but settled out quickly, leaving a little bit of lacing behind. The aroma was citrus with a decidedly grapefruit edge, and some earthy hop notes in the background. The body was moderate with a thin mouthfeel, but with a creamy texture to it that I found to be quite enjoyable; from the feel of it, I think this beer may have been bottled using Nitrogen, or some Beergas mix instead of straight Carbon Dioxide. The taste was quite bitter, but also had a significant sweetness that made it drinkable. Surprisingly, this beer reminded me of a sweeter, less bitter Hop Rod Rye with more of a focus on aroma hopping; overall, it was far a more balanced and pleasant drinking experience.

Unfortunately, this beer will probably be a little past its prime if you still find it on the shelf, as its now over 6 months old. I hope they re-brew it this year as it was quite drinkable; I would love to see something like this on tap in most local bars. If you do see a bottle of this on the shelf, however, it may be worth your time to try as it may age better than I expect.

Price: $3.99

Size: 12 oz

ABV: 4.2%

Appearance: 4 /5

Aroma: 3.5/5

Flavor: 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: 3/5

Smoked Porter - Stone Brewing Company

The autumn weather of the past several weeks has got me into mood for some nice, dark, roasty beers. As I have perused the shelves of my favorite beer stores over the past few years I’ve noticed Stone Brewing Companies’ Smoked Porter repeatedly, but for some reason never actually drank one. I have enjoyed a number of Stone’s other beers such as Arrogant Bastard Ale and Ruination IPA, so I decided to give it a taste.

Stone Brewing Company was founded in 1996 by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. The pair initially met in 1989, and realized that their tastes in beer were similar when both attended a class on tasting beer taught at UC Davis. Steve was already an experienced brewer at this point, and Greg an accomplished business man, so they decided to open a brewery together a few years later. The brewery has since moved from its original site in San Marcos to a larger facility in Escondido where they now operate a larger brewing system with a capacity of 70,000 barrels per year, with room to expand.

The beer poured black with a finger of light brown head, which revealed a clear, deep red hue when held up to the light. The head had a fairly coarse texture, but the retention was surprisingly good. The aroma consisted mainly of a roasty maltiness which was accentuated by a slight smoke character and some faintly bitter, burnt notes from the malt. When tasted the beer had a surprising sweetness; not overly sweet, but I had expected a much drier beer. The sweetness actually provided a nice touch, since it offset the bitterness. The body was actually fairly thick, but I did not notice this at first due to the fairly high carbonation level. The aftertaste was quite bitter, and the body left a sensation of something thick coating my mouth. The smokiness came out towards the end of the taste, lingering on with the bitter notes.

This beer turned out to be significantly different than I expected, which is in part because smoked porters are not a recognized style of their own, but mostly my fault. The Beer Judge Certificate Program recognizes only one distinct style of smoked beer (Classic Rauchbier), with all others lumped together in “Other Smoked Beer”. This being said, smoked beers have become a bit of a fad recently at some local breweries (Victory has had both Smoked Porter and Smoked Weizenbock on tap, in addition to their Rauchbier), with one of the common variants being a Smoked Russian Imperial Stout. For some reason this is what I expected, and I was very pleasantly surprised by restrained character of the Stone Smoked Porter; its far more like a Robust Porter than a Russian Imperial Stout.

Porters are generally served in pint glasses or a stein, which is quite convenient for most people. I would recommend pairing this one with pretty much anything that has been smoked (yes, bacon does pair well with pretty much everything), but I think it will go well with some slightly sweet things as well. Cured or seasoned meats, especially sausages like bratwurst, should go well with this beer, especially if you are willing to fire up the grill for a late-season barbecue. One thing that is suggested on the Stone website that I will try the next time is chocolate; I think the roasted malt character will blend nicely, especially with the darker varieties.

Overall, this was a smooth and well balanced beer that I would recommend to anyone who wants to try a porter. The beer is surprisingly approachable, with the smoked character adding some complexity to a very good robust porter instead of trying to overshadow it.

Size: 22 oz

Price: $7.95

ABV: 5.9%

Look: 4/5

Smell: 4/5

Taste: 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: 3.5/5