Mixtape Ale Vol. 1 - GK & LU's Blend
Stone Brewing

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From:
Stone Brewing
 
California, United States
Style:
Herb and Spice Beer
ABV:
6.6%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.85 | pDev: 15.84%
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
28
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 21, 2015
Added:
Apr 22, 2012
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  0
Dubbed Stone Mixtape Ale-GK & LU’s Blend Vol. 1, it’s a calculated mingling of seven beers from Stone Brewing Co. devised by CEO Greg Koch and brewer Laura Ulrich.

Those beers include everyday normies like Stone Levitation IPA, Smoked Porter and Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, plus library beers including 2011 Imperial Russian Stout and Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout brewed the same year that’s been infused with sage, peppers and lemon thyme.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by stevec32:
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Rated by stevec32 from New York

4/5  rDev +3.9%

Jun 07, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.66 by cgrunin from Texas

Feb 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by HattedClassic from Virginia

Nov 03, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by SocalKicks from California

Aug 16, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by jvillefan from California

Jan 29, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Eriktheipaman from California

Jan 09, 2013
Photo of Murrhey
Reviewed by Murrhey from Washington

3.03/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Had on-tap at Hollingshead's Deli in Orange, Calif. Reviewed from notes.

A- Finger width cream color head. Long retention and thick ringed lacing. Deep mahogany color with nice clarity.

S- Earthy hops and caramel malts. Kind of strange and sweet.

T- Sweet. Caramel malts, earthy and bitter hops.

M- Medium bodied and creamy with a wet finish.

O- Nice. Better than I thought it would be.
Dec 19, 2012
Photo of JohnGalt1
Reviewed by JohnGalt1 from Idaho

3.03/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Enjoyed at the Bittercreek Stone Tap Takeover... 5oz pour ... Fairly clear brown... light brown head...

Nose is herbal and somewhat floral... brown malts... this brew is all over the place.

The palate mirrors the nose with something that I guess is chilies.. a bit roasty and some licorice... herbal notes with wamrth... lemon verbena? lemon thyme?

Meh... not my cup of beer.. Glad I got the chance to try it.. but I probably would not buy again.

3.5/3/3/3/3
Sep 16, 2012
 
Rated: 2.5 by dksl16 from California

Sep 03, 2012
 
Rated: 5 by CEDAMA from California

Aug 21, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by neckbracesub from Indiana

Jul 16, 2012
Photo of argock
Reviewed by argock from Virginia

2.78/5  rDev -27.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
Served on-tap in a 10 oz snifter at Downtown Johnny Brown's (San Diego, CA).

A: Very dark brown with a thin cap of off-white tightly bubbled head with few spots of lace.

S: It is an odd melange of herbs like sage and tarragon and spices with a fairly strong dark maltiness

T: The flavor of this beer, while palatable, is not something I would choose again. The herbal components are way too strong and overtake any malt component. Then you throw in some spices and it is really a mess.

M: Decent medium-to-full body. Carbonation is medium.

O: Really a strange and not so wonderful one-off. I would avoid.
Jun 20, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by RedHunter from Massachusetts

Jun 04, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by sailorastro from Connecticut

Jun 03, 2012
Photo of kevanb
Reviewed by kevanb from Illinois

2.65/5  rDev -31.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5
On tap at Lucky Baldwin's in Pasadena

Pour is a dark brown, borderline black color, hints of tan and crimson when held to the light. A big thick off white head sits atop the beer, great retention and lacing. The aroma quickly turns me off this beer, huge note of sage, some anise, bitter hops, some roast, but goodness is it muddled, unbalanced and just plain unpleasant. I was really hoping to get some of the pepper and chocolate out of the aroma, but got an odd, earthy blend of hops and spicing, nothing that compliments each other. Fortunately, the flavors are a bit more interesting and palatable. Starts straight away with some dark roast and bitterness, earthy hops come to mind, the pepper caught my tongue, and in a good way too, faint chocolate, but at the finish, again with the sage and spice bomb, again, completely out of balance. The body is good, a bit thin, medium carbonation is spot on.

Verdict: This is a miss for me, I love Stone and this is certainly an ambitious beer, but it's really hard to tell what the objective is when you taste it? Reminds me a bit of It's Always Sunny, let's just toss all the skunk beer in a pot and call it microbrew, sometimes it's best to leave all the component beers alone.
Jun 03, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by Bilco from Pennsylvania

Jun 02, 2012
Photo of DubbelBastard
Reviewed by DubbelBastard from Michigan

4.55/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
I had this beer yesterday, but I took some brief notes.

Not knowing which 7 beers were mixed together, I went in blind.

The appearance was quite dark, with a strong head that hung around for a while.

The bouquet was also excellent, with a myriad of aromas intermingling in my nose's taste buds.

The taste (what I usually think is most important) was pretty good. Maybe I'm biased, in liking most stuff that Stone puts out, but honestly is was a good beer.

Body: lacking. Felt like a porter, hoped for more of a stout feel...

Synopsis: Couldn't pass up such a unique brew. However, if I could only drink one beer in a night, this might not be my pick.
May 21, 2012
 
Rated: 3.25 by Chrisdslap from California

May 13, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by mhaugo from California

May 11, 2012
Photo of KAVSE
Reviewed by KAVSE from California

4.01/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Had this on tap at Stone in Escondido.

Appearance: It pours almost totally black with a small amount of head that lingers until two sips in. Holding it up to the light you do see a slight red tint...and I do mean slight. Pretty dark stuff.

Smell: The only confusing thing about this beer was the smell. This beer is a blend of seven different Stone brews (with some herbs/spices added) and it seems like the blended beers "cancel" each other out. It could be that the herbs and spices blend the smells. Slight herbs and alcohol on the nose.

Taste: My mouth felt like it was on a mini-tour of all the Stone beers included in this batch. The initial stage was of the lighter beers (eg. Levitation) and then moved quickly to the darker tastes of Imperial Russian Stout and the darker beers in this batch. The herbs and spices sneak in at the end stage. All the beers really do "blend" incredibly well and it didn't taste at all like seven random beer flavors making a random concoction in your mouth. As the beer warmed, the hops woke up and reversed the order of the beers on the mini-tour. Really a fun and surprising beer to slowly explore.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation is pretty restrained which allows for the myriad of flavors to move across your palate. Malt is balanced with the hops. Even though some of the beers used in the Mixtape have high IBU's there is a nice balance from the malts that even non-hopheads will enjoy.

Overall: I was really excited to try this beer and it did not disappoint. The smell really doesn't tell you anything about the adventure your taste buds are about to be on. A blend of several beers could be disastrous in the wrong hands but Stone really offers up an amazing experience with this one.
May 11, 2012
Mixtape Ale Vol. 1 - GK & LU's Blend from Stone Brewing
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 28 ratings