Stone Matt's "Burning Rosids" Imperial Cherry Wood Smoked Saison

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

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

Style/ABV: "Imperial" Saison, 10.5% 
Reported IBUs: ???

Dying sucks. Especially when you are still young and have ambition...and especially when it's because of some freak brewery-related accident. Brewing beer is hard, dangerous work. Tonight's beer is Stone's tribute to a fallen employee: an experimental, small batch brew conceived by the departed himself.  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. 

There's not much to say about Matt's Burning Rosids, other than check out the tribute on Stone's website. This "Imperial" Saison is brewed with cherrywood-smoked malts. I'm putting "Imperial" in quotes because I dunno, the style seems weird to me. 

Matt's "Burning Rosids"

The beer pours into a dark bronze, almost-amber body, and kicks up three fingers of gold tinted head. Even in low light the beer looks transparent and filtered. Bright light confirms the dark gold, filtered body. There's some moderate streams of moderate sized carbonation bubbles rising upwards, and a finger of foamy, white head is sustaining nicely. The head is leaving lots of lacing.

The aroma is like a mix of a Hefeweizen with a mild Rauchbier...the aroma is bursting with white sugar, bananas, clove, bubblegum, and Belgian funk. The hint of cherrywood is undeniable in the aroma, with light salt and sauna wood. I'm getting a little hop character, and orange/lemon zest in the mix as well, with plenty of wheat malts. It smells very German, but not like a German, or at least not like any German I've smelled. 

This is very luscious and full-bodied. I wasn't expecting the dense assault of creamy wheat, vanilla, clove, bubblegum, and banana that you get up front. The beer then rolls into some really mild and subtle smoked wood notes. In between is some grain and alcohol. The smoked wood notes impart some leather, dry wood, and dark grain...it reminds me of Fantôme a bit, but eh. It's kind of boozy, to be honest. I still hate the "Imperial Saison" label. I feel like this falls between a Doppelweizen/Weizenbock and Saison with smoked elements that would bump it to a specialty beer category anyway. Or better yet, #YOLO, so define it however you want.

Again, this is a full-bodied beer. The 10.5% isn't completely hidden, with some alcohol showing up. The alcohol does play off the dark grains and provide a counterpoint to some of the smoked malts. Complexity is okay, and palate depth is good. As I sip on this some more, I'm getting more and more bitterness on the finish. I can't tell if that is the dark grains and smoked malts, or if this is also generously bittered with hops. I assume the latter, because Stone. You get creamy wheat, clove, bananas, white sugar, orange/lemon zest, and bubblegum up front; that rolls into bitter hops and spent bubblegum, and then the cherrywood smoked malts kick in with sauna wood and bitter grain; the back end features bitter grain, cherry wood, hoppy bitterness, and a drying finish. From thick, creamy, and sugary to smokey, bitter, and dry.  

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this beer. It's probably a notch above average and it should get points for being experimental and original. And the dark grains + bubblegum wheat + bitter hops + smoked malts make for an interesting and incredibly bitter beer through and through. When you juxtapose the extreme bitter elements with the huge sweetness and 10.5%, you get something pretty enjoyable. Calling this beer a Saison is probably fair...it has many Saison elements. It's very Belgian-ale or German-ale esque. I'd love to see this beer aged, but I'm pretty sure it's not conditioned. Throw in some Brett and I think this could be banging. It really does remind me of Orval, or even the Engelszell Benno, with that earthy grain thing. There are flashes of Fantôme's mystery and greatness, but those Saisons are in a class of their own that is probably impossible to reproduce anytime soon. Food pairings for this beer: dry, spicy wings, barbecue food, pulled pork, dry rub ribs, grilled lamb, and hearty stews with lots of fat. Maybe a corn chowder? Yum.

Random Thought: Beer is supposed to be fun, and this beer is definitely that. Stone did a classy thing by temporarily immortalizing Matt with this brew. Here's to hoping they throw some Brett into this beer and maybe re-release it down the road. 

Pipeworks Big Smokey P

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #201) bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 (bottled 9.5.13)

Style/ABV: Smoked Beer/Imperial Porter, 10.5%
Reported IBUs: ?

Welcome to Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™. It's cold out tonight, and the perfect evening to enjoy a big, bold, robust, smoked beer. About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

Tonight's beer is an "Imperial Porter" that will likely feature Imperial Stout-like boldness. I guess we're splitting hairs here, but what can you do. The bottle reads:

"Bold, rich, and smokey. This is how the Big Smokey P Rolls. A deep malt base combining both Cherrywood and Beachwood smoked malts, this imperial smoked porter is Big. Get up on this Big Smokey P and enjoy the ride."

Pipeworks Big Smokey P

This beer pours into a black body with ruby red tones, and kicks up a pinky's worth of lightly tanned head. The head retention consists of a tan ring along the edge of the glass, and a hazy cauldron effect on top. Swirling the beer coats your glass with dense, dark lacing, and leaves some residual alcohol legs/tears behind. Bright light confirms much of the same: a dark beer with brown/ruby tones. 

This has a rich, velvety aroma, with lots of beachwood/cherrywood, caramel/molasses/brown sugar sweetness, hints of creamer or lactose, and tons of suggestive chocolates and meaty notes. There's a hint of butterscotch/diacetyl that comes and goes, but with the amount of UMPHH this beer has, I doubt it will be an issue. 

You do get a lot of beachwood, cherrywood, and smoked malts (with some hints of meat and campfire and the usual trimmings), all wrapped up in a delightful, full-bodied, malty package. I'm pulling out earthy notes, hints of coffee, chocolate, even some hints of sweeter sugars and fruits, and lots of molasses and caramel. But the smoked malts are pervasive throughout. 

This is full-bodied, dense, and big...it's also somewhat sugary, and leaves some residual sugars and stickiness on your lips. Nevertheless, for 10.5% this is drinkable. Palate depth is good...complexity is okay....and the beer promises what it advertises, which is nice smoked malt throughout. You get beachwood/cherrywood/smoked malt and cacao with some earthy notes hinting at coffee and roast up front; that rolls into chocolate, hints of fruit, some bitterness (hops???), and more smoked malts; the back end is lingering smoked malts with sugar/caramel/molasses sweetness. The finish is sticky sweet, and a touch smokey. 

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm going to go with a very Light Above-Average here. I almost feel like the gravity boost here isn't as big of an improvement over Pipeworks' regular Smoked Porter as it could be...maybe if you take the bigger ABV and throw in some more cocoa or something, I don't know. It's a solid B/B+ beer, and the promised smoked malts are consistent throughout. This would be a great beer to pair with barbecue, grilled meats, a burger with bacon, ice cream, or dry chocolate cake. This is another solid brew from Pipeworks, and more proof that they have Stouts and IPAs down.

Random Thought: I had a cavity drilled and filled today. I rarely get cavities, and believe that tonight was number two or three. Getting the Novocaine shot is fucking weird, but it's kind of a cool sensation. The worst part is having the needle in your mouth for that extended period of time. I should probably harden the fuck up, so I'm gonna peace out.