Stone Stochasticity Project Quadrotriticale

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Belgian Quadrupel, 9.3% 
Reported IBUs: 40

Tonight we are trying another beer from Stone's Stochasticity Project. In case you are not in the loop, the Stochasticity Project is Stone's other label for people who aren't stupid. Are you stupid? Do you like talking gargoyles? Well turn around, there is nothing for you to see here. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. Also...farking woot and fizzy yellow beer is for bitches. 

The Stochasticity Project Quadrotriticale is a Belgian-stile Quad brewed with triticale, "a hybrid grain combining the pleasant flavor of wheat with the elemental durability and spice of rye." To be more exact, this beer uses Pilsner and Flaked Triticale malts, Dark Candi Sugar, Ardennes Strain Belgian Yeast, and unknown hops. Let's get this gargoyle-hating beer into a glass.

Stochasticity Project Quadrotriticale

From the onset, this looks the part of a Belgian Dubbel with those dark ruby red and orange tones. The beer kicks up two to three fingers of creamy, dense, wheat-fueled head....it's the stuff you expect with a dark Belgian Strong Ale. This beer is also super effervescent with tons of carbonation. Head retention is nice, with a wispy coating hanging around for the long haul. There's also tight like a tiger lacing.

On the aroma: good things. I'm actually surprised at how straight this beer plays things. I say that for a few reasons...one being how weird Stone's Saison was, and two, the Belgian beers that Stone brewed for the Vertical Epic Series (and that they alluded to in the description of this beer) are somewhat off the beaten path. I'm getting big candi sugars, cherries and dark fruits, clove and phenol spice, and some nice waves of caramel and vanilla. This has a really nice depth to the aroma, with some bready, rye-like notes popping against the Belgian candi sugars and perfume fruits. It smells surprisingly awesome.

Wow...this is a pleasant surprise. This is actually really good, and kind of embraces everything I love about the Dark Strong Ale style while retaining a little bit of Stone's unique point of view. This is full-bodied and expansive with a substantial mouthfeel. You want that for this style of beer. However, this cleans up somewhat refreshing and dry, with dark fruits, rye bread, wheat malts, and then some nice hoppy punch. I wonder if Stone slipped some American hops into the boil...up front, this drops blissfully balanced and clean Belgian candi sugars, with lightly bitter hops and rye bread, phenol spice, hints of cherries, and then bam...the back end cleans up towards the slightly bitter. Nice.

This is full-bodied, but very drinkable. It hides all the boozes, with none of the 9.3% showing up in the taste. Palate depth is fantastic, while complexity isn't quite up there with some of the heavy hitters. I do like this beer, however. Up front: sugars, bread, rye, bitter hops, candi sugars, phenol spice; the mids roll into dark fruits, hints of cherries, more sugars, more dark bread and rye; the back end gets uppity with the hops, and finishes somewhat dry and clean with lingering sugars and bread. There is some nice boozy warming.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm calling this a Strong Above-Average. This is a fantastically crafted beer...I hope Stone continues to brew this one and keeps it on the shelves. I'd even call this memorable in some regards, I could not only see myself buying this again but I bet this one would be fun to age. This has potential to pair well with strong cheeses and a meat tray, grilled meats, rustic dishes likes stew and potatoes, and cold Winter nights. I have to tip my hat to Stone for this one; this is a good beer.

Random Thought: Stone killed it with their Indiegogo campaign.