Beer Reviews- Stone Pale Ale, New Glarus Alt

I was excited to be in Wisconsin to get my hands on some beers not available in Minnesota, most notably New Glarus. I've written a lot about New Glarus on this blog, you can check out past reviews here. My parents have a summer home in Wisconsin, so every trip up to visit them, I make sure to pick up some of this beer. While there are rumors of them coming to Minnesota, they strictly distribute in Wisconsin to keep with their "Native Beer" theme. Without gushing too much, I love everything about this brewery. Their staunch commitment to being local, celebrating the past, while also brewing some unique and adventerous beers. They brew both traditional and experimental equally well, and the Alt is a perfect example.
The description of this beer is tantalizing enough: "A heavy malt bill for this beer, along with a three-hour boiling time and additions of Turbinado Sugar...all combine for strong caramel flavors with assertive toffee tones. The altbeer is subsequently aged in open-top oak fermentors and then bottle conditioned."
The beer pours a bronze, copper color with a foamy finger of white head. Nice caramel, toffee, fruit, and sweet candy aromas. A very interesting taste at first, hard to pin down. The beer is very Belgian-esque in it's fruitiness and sweet aromas. It's equally malty and caramely, reminiscent of a German bock or ale. There are molasses and raisin flavors, and a bit of a alcohol presence. A very unique beer that is hard to categorize, it's smooth, fruity, malty and complex...just damn good.

Stone Pale Ale: I don't understand beer distribution sometimes. Why it is that Illinois and Wisconsin can carry breweries like Bear Republic and Stone Brewing Company and Minnesota doesn't? They probably drive right through the damn state on their way to Wisconsin. Well, hopefully it's only a matter of time before demand brings those two breweries to MN. Stone Brewing Company is one of those breweries worth the hype. Save for the Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, a beer I was thoroughly disappointed with, everything else I've had from Stone has been fantastic. Beers like Levitation, Arrogant Bastard, and Ruination IPA are all aggressively hopped beers, which is partly what impressed me so much about their Pale Ale I picked up in Wisconsin.
This beer pours a beautiful copper orange color with a thin white head. Nice caramel aromas dominate the nose, with a slight citrus hoppiness underneath. Wonderful flavors, and perfectly balanced. There are great caramel flavors, as well as some slight toastiness, a faint bitterness and some citrusy hops in the finish. From everything I've had from Stone, this beer surprised me and impressed me with how understated it is. A flawless, perfectly balanced Pale Ale. Start the movement Minnesotans! We need Stone Brewing Company to distribute in our state!
Coming up this week, I'm going to do a year end review... handing out awards...it should be fun, and infinitely dorky, so stay tuned.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer