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Alchemist collaboration?? Yes Please!!

Pours into my glass a deep muddy brown that yes, is almost black. A half inch of frothy, creamy khaki head sits atop the brew and leaves nice lacing. Aromas are big, bright tropical fruit hop tones right off the bat. Resinous and oh so nice. Pine, grapefruit and bright citrus. Just a touch of roasted malt underneath..the color is definitely deceiving from the smell here. Hops galore!

First sip brings a blast of hop goodness upfront..tropical citrus, grapefruit and pine in a resinous green cavalcade. Smooth roasted malts back it up but the roast is really low key and lets the hops shine through and do the majority of the work. Solid bitterness on the way down. Just a great beer.

Mouthfeel is smooth and medium bodied. Great carbonation and overall just an easy drinking brew that I really can't say anything bad about. Mouthfeel is basically perfect. Overall, this is easily my favorite collaboration beer put out by Stone. Cheers to Alchemist / Ninkasi and Stone on this one. Go get some!

Price: $3.49 Served In: Snifter

Bottled Nov 2011.

More brown than black but pretty darned close to being black; no light shines through.

A solid an stubborn +1 finger head of foam that has the usual excellence of foam retention and lacing.

The smell is damn hoppy!; grapefruit and pine dominate my nose buds with no sign of any malt. I'm in the mood for a very hoppy brew so this could get interesting.

First sip in and it's pretty basic. Hop flavours of grapefruit and pine and even when I swish the beer in my mouth, nothing else stands out. Good thing I'm in the mood for that kind of beer right now. Bitterness is intense but not overwhelming and it's an easy drinker; medium bodied with the same for the carbonation makes for a smooth mouthfeel.

I'm enjoying this brew from Stone. It's been a long time since my last brew from them.

Served In: Pint Glass