Resilient Belgian-derived pale ale furnishes sharp white-peppered clove-coriander spicing with ripe orange-peach-honeydew-pineapple medley and redolent floral bouquet. Speckled yeast sinew dots viscous yellow-orange body, offering cotton-candied butterscotch, sugared yam and toffee illusions to take hold. At engaging finish, corky oak-dried cherry tartness counters sweet caramel malting.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
SOUTHERN TIER BIG RED ALE
Spicy floral hop tingle juxtaposes biscuit-y cereal-grained cornmeal sweetness. Ripe red grape-cherry-nectarine fruiting girded by grassy earthiness. Cracked wheat spine gets cardboard-y and reticent chocolate malting tails off, but pulpy center maintains.
SOUTHERN TIER PORTER
Expressive dry-bodied dark brown porter stays chewy, if not particularly rich. Charred hop roast affects oily burnt coffee dryness countering caramelized black chocolate-y cocoa malting. Sour espresso bean finish overrides earthen minerality and wood-charred tobacco chew tarring. Black cherry and cola nut illusions waver. Sticky lace coats glass and smoky ash aroma persists.
SPATEN CLUB WEISSBIER
Thick yeast sweetness counters mellow wheat-backed banana impetus of foamy-headed softie for unoriginal, though satisfying, lightweight. Soured citrus pleat and perfumed hop mist add depth.
STAR BREWING ALT BIER ALE
Confusing beer-ale reference notwithstanding, prune-hued dank-fruited German-styled alt retains clove-spiked orange peel essence. Sour yeast penetrates soft hop bittering to moderate citric-spiced finish. Brewery defunct: 2003.
STEEL RESERVE LAGER
8.1% alcohol burn may put wide-mouth bottled billowy-headed pale lager in oblivious malt liquor category for U.S. consumption. Watery, soft, and soapy with zesty hop flow and sweet malt backdrop obstructed by cloy yeast stickiness. This is some ugly stuff. Swish around cheeks for bland mouthwash appeal.
STEINLAGER PILSENER
Accessible medium-bodied dry pilsner with long lasting head, delectable citric zest, and lingered mineral graining. Fresh water cleansing seeps into gentle barleymalt sweetness and mild grassy hop bitterness. A fine middle of the road alternative to Bud-Coors-Miller slumming.
STONE IMPERIAL STOUT
Creamy full-bodied 2002 edition contains hefty 9.4% alcohol rate, retaining powdery milk chocolate opulence and richly aromatic molasses malt enhancement. Black currant, vanilla, prune, and raisin variance muscles through sugar spiced fizz hedging too close to cloy. Yet this Russian-styled heavyweight finishes with an absorbing espresso coffee lift that turns to cheap cognac or cherry coughdrop.
STONE CAT I.P.A.
Slight smoked barley whiff and stiff orange peel souring receive organic nut-induced bitterness. Beneath hop sharpness lies thick malt residue and distant dark maple sweetness sustaining rich full body. More robust than usual IPA fare.
STOUDT’S ABBEY DOUBLE ALE
Serene prune-clouded bottle-conditioned ale with awakening carbolic spritz. Sweet-spiced malting, dry pureed raisin and subtle barleywine illusions fortify moderate-bodied essence. But silken texture abruptly softens what would otherwise be fuller, richer finish. Not as luxuriously resonating as famous Abbey-styled Belgian ales tryingly replicated.
STOUDT’S SMOOTH HOPERATOR
Fine spruce-wafted reddish amber IPA with unimpeded roasted hop thrust propelling tangy grapefruit-led fruiting. A smattering of pine embitters red apple, cherry, peach, pear, and pineapple upsurge to toasted barley base.
SWALE INDIAN SUMMER PALE ALE
Simply elegant fruited beauty with tarried berry entry, sticky caramel malting, fragrant floral bouquet and mild orange peel zest. Pleasant water flow and soft hop bittering lighter than most British pales, comparing favorably to a more intimate Samuel Smith IPA., perhaps.