Ken Schmidt Maui Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter

Yeah, try saying the full name of this beer five times fast... though so. The story behind this beer is that Stone Brewing Co. had a competition in which home brewers would send in their creations and Stone would buy the recipe for the best one and mass produce it. Ken Schmidt won.

This porter pours brown/black with a thin off-white head that fades very quickly. The aroma is of nuts, chocolate, barley, and coffee. The taste is very unique and actually tastes much like the name of the beer - initial flavor of coconuts and macadamia nuts, and then it transitions into a coffee and barley finish. Overall the beer is kinda watery, the best way to describe it would be that it tastes like Guinness mixed with coffee, macadamia nuts, and coconuts. Strange, but good.

Appearance - 3.8

Smell - 3.9

Taste - 4.0

Texture - 3.9

Overall - 3.9/5

Stone Brewing Co. Double Bastard Ale

This is just a souped-up version of the regular ol' arrogant bastard ale from Stone. Hopefully this will make it better, but you never know.

This bastard pours brown with slight red tint and a small tan head, very good lacing and overall it looks very similar to the normal arrogant bastard ale. The aroma is very well balanced and includes hints of raisins, plums, yeast, hops, and flowers. Almost smells as if someone mixed in sugar with a bed of flowers. The taste isn't nearly as sweet as the smell would have hinted to and overall its just a well balanced ale. There is a slight sweet maleness in the beginning which leads into a bitter hop finish. Good beer, and pretty much right on par with its weaker (ABV wise) cousin.

Appearance - 3.8

Smell - 4.0

Taste - 3.9

Texture - 3.9

Overall - 3.9/5

Stone Brewing Co. Double Bastard Ale

How can you be a Double Bastard? Wouldn't that be an orphan? I'm not feeling very PC today, so deal with it. Stone Brewing Co. would get along with me quite nicely.

The beer pours out a dark, amber color with minimal, tan head. The lacing was very nice and the body was a little cloudy. The smell was very sweet with bits of light fruits and floral hints. Overall, it was a very "balanced smell", as Fonnie put it. Basically, it didn't lean to any side on the spectrum but it had an identity - very refreshing. The taste was hoppy and bitter and not nearly as sweet as it smelled. It warmed the cockle of my heart...maybe the subcockles. It was also very woody and had the feeling of whiskey. The texture was rather smooth and warm the whole way down. It had a bit of notable carbonation, although it was kind of rough in the middle of the test.

Overall, this followed in the footsteps of the Bastard Ale in being a beastly brew that you shouldn't try unless you're looking to be surprised and tested as to the ability of yourself to take a rough beer. But, it's a good rough...pending you have a palate a little more mature than one that's only seen Coors Light.

Appearance - 4
Smell - 4.1
Taste - 4.1
Texture - 3.8
Overall - 4.0/5

Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA

Ah, Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA, the first Imperial IPA that we have reviewed on this site. What a treat. This brew is actually quite low on the alcohol chart for an Imperial IPA, coming in at only 7.7% alcohol (most are around 9%). This hops-infused beer pours a light golden brown color with a small ring of a head. The smell is instantly citrusy and bitter: orange, lemon, grapefruit. Tastes exactly as an IPA should: bitter. There are also many other notes including oranges, pine, caramel malts, and of course, hops. It is relatively smooth, could be better, but not bad considering it is a double IPA. Obviously Deke doesn't know a good IPA when he tastes one and maybe he's too much of a wimp to handle the 100+ IBU's in this brew, either way this is one very good bitter brew.

Appearance - 3.9

Smell - 4.1

Taste - 4.2

Texture - 4.0

Overall - 4.05/5

Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA

Ah...yet another Stone Brewing Co. brew for us to taste. It's rated pretty highly on the sites we frequent, but, as my review will show, I'm gonna argue that.

I poured it out into the glass and it produced a very nice golden color. Transparent characteristics with a fine white head. In my opinion, a great looking brew. Smell? First red flag. It smelled somewhat of oranges, but it seemed a little stronger than that - in a bad way. It was a little sweet but every time I kept smelling it I was reminded of orange cleaning product. Not pleasant. Taste? Second red flag. It had a very strong taste of hops with a strange fusion of oranges in it. Problem was that it tasted just like it smelled. It reminded me of cleaning solution and I did not enjoy it at all. I had two other people try it and they agreed with my conclusion. The texture was actually nice if you rule out the other characteristics. It was a pretty smooth beer with an interesting contrast of flavors. Although it was a little too sharp.

Overall, it was an okay beer. Something tells me I either strongly dislike this usage of flavors or we got a bad brew and Fonnie just doesn't know what cleaning solution smells like. I'm going to have to try some other moderate IPA's to make sure I just don't like this brew and not IPA's.

Appearance - 4
Smell - 2.9
Taste - 2.9
Texture - 3.6
Overall - 3.35/5

Stone Brewing Co. Imperial Russian Stout

Another gem from the bastards at Stone Brewing Co. Let's have a look...

Looks? Just as black as the heart of the devil that's on the bottle. It had a very, very full caramel-colored head and tint around the sides of the glass but it was still very opaque - much like most imperial stouts. It had some nice scents of chocolate and caramel and a very apparent barley scent as well - a little overwhelming though, I think. It tasted quite bitter with a nice spice from the roasted barley. There was also a slight hint of caramel at the end. This was a pretty smooth beer - but I thought it was a little watery. The body seemed to be lacking something. It was also pretty warming - probably due to the high alcohol content.

Overall, a pretty decent brew. I thought it was lacking in some departments but overall it seemed to me to be a good brew that would be nice to have occasionally with maybe a dinner or just as a session brew.

Appearance - 4.4
Smell - 3.9
Taste - 4.1
Texture - 4
Overall - 4.1/5

Stone Brewing Co. Imperial Russian Stout

This is a very dark Imperial Russian made by none other but Stone Brewing Co., one of my favorite micros. This beer comes in at #20 on the top 50 list for good reason. This brew pours black with a very nice looking caramel brown head, although it quickly fades, like most imperial stouts. The smell is very distinct of imperials - chocolate, caramel, coffee, and very strong roasted malt. It tastes almost exactly as it smells but with more of a kick of coffee and maybe even black berries or black currant. This beer goes down relatively smooth with a nice bitter aftertaste of alcohol and roasted malt. Yet another winner from the fine folks at Stone Brewing Co.

Appearance - 4.3

Smell - 4.2

Taste - 4.2

Texture - 4.1

Overall - 4.2/5

Stone Brewing Co. Arrogant Bastard Ale

I just love the name of this brew. The descriptions are pretty funny too. Check out their website to see it if you want.

This is a pretty good looking ale. It pours out nice and transparent with a golden/reddish color. The golden head was very full as well - even in my glass. One good whiff and you get a nice hint of hops. There was also a slight bit of fruit in it as well. I couldn't really detect what fruit it was but it seemed like a neutral fruit like apples. When you taste it, the frothy head is the first flavor to hit you with a followup of hops. In the middle, you get a hint of barley and it finishes off with the hops again. I didn't get the taste of fruit like I initially smelled. The aftertaste of the brew is pretty alcoholic, though. I did not perceive the texture as very smooth. The flow of the textures and tastes didn't really transition that well and I thought it was a pretty generic beer.

Overall, Arrogant Bastard Ale I see as a pretty good everyday or session brew. But if you're looking for a special brew for tasting or occasions, this isn't really a good choice.

Appearance - 4
Smell - 4
Taste - 3.7
Texture - 3.3
Overall - 3.75/5

Stone Brewing Co. Arrogant Bastard Ale

This is the staple of Stone Brewing Company, the Arrogant Bastard Ale, and they let you know that by the quips and insults littered all over the bottle. Sayings such as "This beer is too good for you, you probably won't like it," and "All you yellow-fizz drinking wusses can try something else," makes this a very interesting and humorous brew to try. This American strong ale pours a reddish brown hue with a small golden head. Upon inspection it gives off a noticeable aroma of hops, different kinds of malt, and a hint of sour fruit (possibly green apples?). The taste is quite strong and is exactly what i would expect from a beer made by an arrogant bastard; its bitter, dry, and hops-filled. It leaves a nice bitter aftertaste as well, the whole experience is not very smooth, but still quite enjoyable... if your not a yellow-fizz drikin' wuss like the bottle says.

Appearance - 3.9

Smell - 4.0

Taste - 4.0

Texture - 3.8

Overall - 3.93/5