Stone Spotlight: Imperial Mutt Brown Ale

STYLE

Brown Ale

ABV

9%

IBUs

45

Stone brewers Drew Neldon and Steve Via won this year’s annual in-house Stone Spotlight Series brewing competition with this hefty brown ale—an impressive result considering that one of them had never encountered a brown ale he liked before tasting this one. Given layers of flavor from Vienna, Victory and Chocolate Wheat malts, and warming, refined sweetness from Honey Malt and turbinado sugar, it’s a rich and soothing beer brewed with respect to traditional English methods and New World innovation. The British-American bulldog of the craft beer world? Perhaps. Best in Show? Absolutely.

ABOUT THIS BEER

Release Date

April 13, 2015

FEATURED HOPS

Magnum & East Kent Golding

Beeradvocate

87

NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

AVAILABLE

NOT AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

NOT AVAILABLE

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

Alberta and British Columbia, Canada; Japan; Singapore; and United Kingdom

Tasting Notes

Appearance

Deep brown with a tan-colored head.

Aroma

Light coffee notes plus a strong bready and fruity presence from the English yeast, as well as hints of vanilla and anise.

Taste

Light-roasted malt and coffee flavors, followed by toffee malt notes, hints of molasses and a yeasty fruitiness. The beer is medium to full bodied, a little sweet and very smooth with a mildly dry finish.

Overall

When we tasted this beer during the judging session, several of us were impressed by how “English” this beer tasted. It reminded us of the fantastic yeast aromas one gets when walking into an historic Victorian English brewery. Now that we’ve brewed it on our big system, that yeast character shines, and so does the interesting blend of malts. The “Mutt” name comes from Drew and Steve’s attempt to combine the best of an altbier with a classic brown ale recipe. As such, the beer uses an English yeast strain but is brewed primarily with German malts: Vienna as the base malt with chocolate wheat malt and some Honey malt. The malts combine with turbinado sugar to create a pleasant molasses-tinged sweetness.

Provided by

Mitch Steele

,

Brewmaster

Pairing Notes

Appetizers

Merguez sausages, lamb kabobs, Maytag blue cheese-stuffed figs, candied pecans

Soups

Creamy wild rice and mushroom soup; carrot, ginger and coconut soup; carbonnade à la Flamande (Flemish beef stew); pork and ancho chili stew

Entrées

Prime rib, vegetarian shepherd’s pie, coffee-rubbed pork loin, mushroom ragout, green curry

Cheeses

Montgomery Aged Cheddar, Point Reyes Blue, Hook’s Blue Paradise, Ewephoria Sheep Milk Gouda

Desserts

Treacle pudding, chocolate chip cookies, tiramisu, pecan pie

Cigars

Crowned Head Jericho Hill, Padrón 1964 Anniversary, Drew Estate Liga Privada No. 9

Provided by

"Dr." Bill Sysak

,

Craft Beer Ambassador

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