Stone & Wood Stone Beer 2012

Behold! A beer arriving atop a veritable palanquin of reputation in industry.

Yea verily, this is well respected and sells out nearly immediately each year, but I still managed to be surprised by the  appearance first up - it's actually really dark even for the 7.2%, and near impervious to light.

Big malt and nuts are apparent on the nose. Drinking wise it's like a big malty version of a session ale, kind of similar to the Hitachino XH but without any of the strange notes imparted by the barrel aging and the like that goes through. This is more conventional in a way despite its method of making and clearly accomplished nature, a good strong malt driven big ale played to the music sheet. The finish is reasonably quick and it's balanced to boot although the sweetness does drag it down over time.

Nice beer, maybe not up to expectations, but then maybe the expectations and hype have in fact done it in in a sense. Pleasant and would happily drink again - but not sure it's revolutionary. 7.5

The Mash Collective Amasia Rumweizen

The first beer from that coven of crafty brewers, the Mash Collective.

Otherwise known as another beer from Stone & Wood essentially - just these ones tend to be more, well, inventive.

True to form this first beer is a rumweizen, made with molasses and rum thrown in. It's pretty attractive looking but doesn't generate a great deal of head on the pour and appears a little oily, possibly due to the additives.

The aroma leaves no secrets as to a certain wheat-based heritage, quite bitey and inviting. Taste wise it does manage to generate the banana and rum notes they were going for. I didn't encounter much molasses before it rounds off with a spirit-like warming conclusion which hits cleanly and disippates without lingering.

It's an interesting experiment this and seems to have come together pretty well with no real out of place notes. Would I drink it all the time though? Probably not. 6.0

Stone & Wood Jasper Ale

Nice label on this one - it's gently embossed, and actually matches the hue of the beer pretty closely also.

The aroma too suggests good things to come initially but there's also a bit of a metallic twinge that really derails the smoothness up to this point. It's a bit like finding half a worm in your apple. Or your fish.

Happily the beer itself performs well to taste: amber, malty, slightly spicy, and with a lovely nutty / bready finish that is the real star of the show. It's not a refreshing sort of a beer - more a wintery flat companion brew - but could maybe do with a bit more body to this end also as it's relatively light in pushing just 4.7 abv.

Not a bad effort, would happily drink again but loses points for the nose. 6.5

Stone & Wood Pacific Ale

Had drank this several times before but with no photo, it's against the rules of the blog to review it.

Cue it coming second in this year's Critics Choice Top 10, and a chance to hit it at the Sail and Anchor.

You can see how light this is from the photo - damn near transparent - and the taste is similar. Mostly passionfruit, bit of grapefruit, only a very slight malt aftertaste. Mid aeration. Quaffable.

It's a beer you think you should get sick of, but you don't. Probably the most easy drinking beer in Australia. But Hop Hog is better and a worthy winner this year. 8.0