Name – Stone/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Strong Ale
Appearance – Poured pretty much jet black with a small light brown head that was gone pretty quickly.
Smell – A little roasted malts and quite earthy hops. There is a smell I can’t quit place.
Taste – It has a hop presence up front but then gets quite complex. You have roasted malts with a bit of smokiness to it. Then there is an almost soy sauce like taste to me. And it finishes with a bit more hops and this spice taste that I can’t place. Maybe it’s the fennel used in it but I have no clue what that smells or tastes like.
Another of my mail ordered beers from the west coast. I really decided to have this last night after reading Mike’s review at Thank Heaven for Beer yesterday. This is a very complex beer from three big California brewers. I definitely can’t think of anything I’ve ever had like it before. I was quite enjoyable as I sipped it while watching Parenthood on demand. Great combo there. I probably won’t buy another at $5 was a bit much for a 12 oz bottle especially one that I had to have shipped here as it isn’t available in these parts. But if you can easily get a hold of one or just want to order it then I do say to do it.
Overall Grade – B+
1 Comment
Thanks for the link to our site. Glad that you like this beer. I really think it will improve over the next year. I’ll review one when the time comes.
April 22, 2010 at 11:46 am