Stone Saison

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Whole Foods in Naperville, IL; 2014 (Enjoy By 09/05/14)

Style/ABV: American Saison, 6.0% 
Reported IBUs: 45

Stone have built strong mythos around individuality and pushing the envelope. Knowing that, one could point out the irony that Stone has jumped on the Session IPA and Saison bandwagon. But irony isn't a word in the gargoyle lexicon. But hey, there's always a chance that Stone's Saison is formidable. 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 Stone Saison is an American-style Saison that punches in at a gentle 6.0% ABV and 45 IBUs. This one is brewed with Perle and Aramis hops, and features lemon zest, lemon thyme, and lavender straight from Stone Farms. That's right: in the Spring of 2011 Stone bought a farm, acquiring 19 acres of land in Southern Cali to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and reefer. The last one is off the record. Speaking of things that are off the record, word on the street is that Greg Koch, who loves hot peppers, added just a pinch of habanero to this beer. For some reason, the habanero addition that was rumored is not listed on Stone's website. However, if you read the tasting description, they do note: "The finish is a mix of red apple, black pepper and the tiniest touch of heat." I guess we will see. 

Stone Saison

This one pours into an uneventful, hazy yellow body. There are yellow-gold and yellow-orange tones in bright light. The carbonation in here is lively, with a stream of bubbles rapidly ascending. This one produced a finger of white head, and has since faded into a nice sea foam coating with lots of lacing. 

Honestly, the aroma here smells muddled and conjures up images of train wrecks and horrible sport injuries. It smells kind of like a Doppelweizen meets a Christmas Spiced Ale. I'm reminded of the Sam Adams Merry Mischief and the Southern Tier 2XMas and the Pipeworks Chai Dog. I'm getting big banana and clove notes, TONS of nutmeg and allspice, cardamon, and thyme...and some nonspecific heat. Beneath the spice, banana, and clove is some bready malt backings and orange peel. There's some citrus ala a Belgian Witbier in here. Again: this aroma is all over the place. I would not guess this is a Saison from the aroma.

Hmm...the initial taste does not remind me of the Saison style. BUT, as I let this sit on my palate for a moment...this one kind of veers into that raw and earthy character, with black pepper. The finish has some heat. The front end is still an assault of nutmeg and thyme, with layers of banana and clove lurking beneath, and hints of citrus in the fold. The back end is where you get that earthy pepper and...well...earth character. It compliments the big, peppery heat that shows up on the back end. As this warms up a bit, the thyme starts to mellow out and the citrus comes out a bit...I'm still getting a ton of spice in here though, with curry showing up. The back end definitely suggests a peppery addition, which is not listed as an ingredient for reasons I couldn't fathom. 

I don't hate this...but let's call a spade a spade. Is this really a Saison? If so, it's quite the bastardization of the style. Maybe that's what they were going for, I don't know. My favorite part here is the nice kick of heat on the back end. This is a medium-bodied beer with good carbonation to move things along. Palate depth and complexity are both alirhgt, and you don't get any alcohol at 6.0%. The front end here is all about the nutmeg, thyme, black pepper, earth, and banana-clove; the mids roll into layers of banana, clove, and some citrus, with more earthy black pepper showing up; the back end finishes with raw earthy notes, black pepper, and big hot pepper heat. It's dry and attenuated and finishes nicely...but this is a "Winter Saison" if ever there was one.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. WTF is this? It's definitely not a Saison...right? I don't even know. It's not a bad beer per se...but yeah. I understand that the Saison style is sort of ambiguous and undefined, but that doesn't give you the green light to do whatever. Having said all that, the earthy spice, black pepper notes, and hot pepper heat in this beer all suggest some bold food pairings...forget delicate foods with this beer. Throw some potatoes at this beer, chicken, Mexican food, black beans, and Korean BBQ wings. This is tasty...just weird.

Random Thought: The use of spice in this beer is really nice. 

Founders Mango Magnifico

Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013
Style/ABV: Fruit/Vegetable Beer, 10.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

I feel very entitled about tonight's beer. I was lucky enough to track down a bottle in my distro, and went and picked one up first thing in the morning. It's weird buying beer at the liquor store at 10am...with the other drunks and alcoholics. Not that I have any judgement. Anyway, my sense of entitlement here is that I love Habaneros and spicy foods. I have high expectations for this beer, and the sweet citrus heat from the Habanero should pair magnificently with the mango in this beer. About Founders:

Founders is the holy grail of Michigan brewing. Based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Founders was founded in 1997 by Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers, and produces some of the best beer in the world. If you haven't heard of Founders...well, what are you doing? Get on that, now.

This beer is the seventh beer in Founders' Backstage Series. The Mango Magnifico con Calor (with heat) is a high-gravity fruit beer brewed with mango, and Michigan-grown habaneros. The fruit is supposed to be complimented with a hint of heat, adding a layer of complexity. You can read more about the beer here and here.  

Founders Mango Magnifico

The beer pours into a gold/orange body, and kicks up two fingers of creamy, off-white head. The head soaks up some gold/orange tones. The beer looks to be semi-transparent with a touch of haze, and there's a lot of carbonation streaming upwards in the form of small bubbles. I'm surprised by the head retention, or the two fingers of head I initially got on the pour. In bright light, the beer is much the same, with a hazy golden-orange body. The head seems a bit more white in bright light, with sea foam persistence, and your usual lacing and all that. 

As you might guess, there's not a ton of heat on the nose. What you do get on the aroma is HUGE mango. If you like mango, this beer delivers on the aroma. I'm getting mango, peach, maybe some earthy habanero-citrus, tea, sweet tea (peach tea), sugar, and some underlying malt fatness. The malt backing leans towards a cracker or wheat base. 

The taste delivers everything as advertised, with zesty/peppery mango up front. The mango proliferates on your tongue and you do get zesty heat up front. But the actual heat/spice really kicks in on the back of the palate. This is pretty straightforward stuff. I mean, there's some shades of mango, peach, and sweet tea in this. As the habanero kicks in I'm getting some peppery citrus, earthy heat, and even a bit of cinnamon spice. The peppery heat makes your mouth tingle in a pleasing way. There's some honey/biscuit/cracker-like density from the malt as well, and this has a welcomed and big body at 10.0%.

Seriously, this beer is not too thick. I always get sad when I crack open a coffee or chocolate Stout/Porter that has a thin body and mouthfeel. This beer is dense with a huge mango character, and lots of peppery habanero. Palate depth is outstanding, with each sip lasting a long time. Complexity is low. The mouthfeel is like medium-full to full-bodied, but is assisted by lively carbonation and peppery heat. It almost feels like Pop Rocks on your tongue. I feel like this is pretty easy to sum up: mango up front; malt sweetness and sudden heat in the middle; big peppery citrus and habanero heat on the back. The beer leans on a reasonably large malt base. The heat grows if you take sips back to back.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. You definitely get a lot of peppery heat in this, and you might even find this to be a bit hot if you don't frequent spicy foods. That said, this beer promises EXACTLY what it advertises. Mango + Habanero. This is one of the better pepper beers I've had, and I really enjoy the huge mango sweetness that you get here. I don't know what I would pair this beer with. I feel like you could go a couple of different directions....pork tacos? Something with chocolate? The big mango, citrus, and pepper heat in this beer would work with chocolate. You might even get away with pairing this beer with plain fried chicken. I think, above all else, this is just a fun beer. I paid 12 or 13 dollars, and I wouldn't pay much more. If you enjoy spicy peppers and beer, grab a bottle to share with a friend and pair this beer with some savory pork tacos or a sweet chocolate-dipped churro. 

Random Thought: I missed out on Doom, but to be honest, I didn't try very hard to track a bottle down. I heard that Doom is still sitting on shelves in Michigan. Hell, I heard that the Frangelic Mountain Brown is still sitting on shelves in Michigan. I assume this one will hang around for a while too. They can't all be CBS.