2004 Symposium Ale
Stone Brewing

 

Thanks to Omar for a pour of this on Darkness Eve. Definitely some oxidation, though not as much as I would have thought. Flavors are muted but very smooth - light fruits, Belgian yeast. Very easy drinking. Almost certainly past its prime, but held up much better than I would have imagined.

 

 

From 03/30/12 notes. Big thanks to drabmuh for sharing this one.

a - Pours a murky yellow orange color with a few white bubbles and low carbonation evident.

s - Smells of bready mlts and some caramel malts, with some light yeast. A big faded and weak, pretty average.

t - Tastes of fruity malts, yeast, bready malts, and caramel malts. A step up from the nose, a little bit stronger.

m - Medium body and low carbonation. Pretty easy to drink.

o - Overall a decent beer but seems a bit faded at this point. Nose is a bit weak and the carbonation is low. Would suggest drinking now if you have a bottle.

Bottle courtesy of drabmuh at the Stone tasting. Served in a Stone goblet.

Pours golden with a thin white head and some spotty lacing on the way down. The nose brings some pilsner malt plus a bit of yeasty spice and a touch of fruitiness. The flavor is a bit spicy with good carbonation carrying some flavor through, though honestly there's not much left to this one. Body is light to medium with a somewhat-dry finish. Past its prime, no doubt. Still, thanks to Matt for finding this one and sharing.

At the Stone tasting the other day, beer served in a Stone glass. Beer is yellow and clear with a white head, small bubbles, low retention, some lacing.

Aroma is mildly sweet, a little yeasty, not much there.

Beer is light tomedium in body, mildly sweet, some carbonation, a little dry on the finish, some earthiness in there, eh. Maybe this beer is just a little old but I'm not really enjoying it.

Shared by drabmuh, who loves Stone. Thanks Matt.

The beer is mostly clear and light orange in color. The aroma brings faded pale ale, with some caramel malt, basement, light toffee. Not nearly as bad as I thought. That said, this is past its prime, unless you particularly enjoy old tasting brews. Mild alcohol with dank malt, maybe rain water. Like lapping up a puddle in a deserted California alley when you are too drunk to find fresh water. Fun.

22 ounce bottle purchased a long time ago down in San Diego, consumed 2/23/09, reviewed from notes, split with my dad, poured into my Duvel tulip glass, color is a hazy yellow, fairly murky for its style, 3/4 inch soapy white head with decent retention, minimal lacing, aroma is light hops, lemon juice, grassy accents, Belgian yeast, floral accents, light spice, and citrus, you can tell by its flavor that it was brewed with a few different yeasts as it goes from sweet to bready to earthy all because of those strains, starts off a little sweeter than expected with a big lemon and orange presence, some bread in the middle, sweet yeast and mild dryness in the finish balance each other out, sweetens up as it mellows, also more fruit comes out along with a mild earthiness, mouthfeel is all over the place and the beer suffers a bit from it, more sweet and bread-like than anything though, medium bodied, still a moderate to slightly high level of carbonation, could have drank the bomber myself, light on the stomach, balanced for the most part, not too high in alcohol and not boozy at all, glad to finally tried this, probably held off for too long and should have drank it as fresh as possible but it still held up quite well, this brew is a little over four years now since it was brewed for the Craft Brewers Conference in 2004, still good and would still drink again, not to mention is brewed by three fantastic brewers: Tomme Arthur, Peter from Alesmith, and Lee Chase, recommended

Old notes from a tasting. Pours pale golden with a one inch head with decent retention and lacing. Aroma is faintly spicy with some lemon notes and yeast. Some cardboard notes were noticeable so this one is past its prime. The oxidization imparted the same cardboard notes in the flavor. Taste is quite yeast, with notes of lemon, apricot, and spices. Alcohol is noticeable in the finish. Light bodied with good carbonation and a dry mouthfeel.

Thanks to hopdog...

Appears a hazy, light gold with a small white cap that slowly fades out. Spotty lacing is left around the glass.
Smell is of light notes of tart nectarines, apricots, and grassy hops.
Taste echoes the aromas with doughy bread, vanilla, spices, and fruit with a citrusy blend.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, acrid, and slightly oxidized...overall though, it stood up well over the past 4 years.

The impression I got from this was that its more of a white ale than anything else. In any case its definitely past its prime.

It poured a white/yellow color with some white head that didn't last too long. Still plenty of carbonation.

The smell was fruity and yeasty but also oxidized for sure. The cardboard smell was just as strong as the belgian/german yeast smells coming through.

The taste was a bit wheaty and spicy which was nice. But the oxidized and aged malt combination wasn't very good. I'm sure it was delightful beer when it was new but its old now.

Drinkable but thats about it. Mouthfeel is very thin. Not too impressive at 4 years old.

Simply delicious. Mild malt, banana, clove, spice, caramel and sugar are all evident. Unlike most Stone brews which are over the top (In a good way!) this one is so smooth and understated. From the first wonderful smell out of the glass, to the silky swallow, this is a winner!

Bottle: Poured an hazy golden color ale with small head with minimal retention. Aroma of coriander is clearly evident. Taste is very Belgian-lie with lots of coriander, Belgian yeast and some distinctive Stone hops. Body is way too thin for my liking and maybe is a bit oxidized. OK, but I’m sure those three brewers have produced better things in the past.

A Belgian style ale, tastes more like a Stone than anyone else. Drinkable and interesting, and could finish the whole bottle myself over a multi-couse meal, me thinks. Liked the colour,liked the head, the complete mouthfeel.Radekfest #6 courtesy of Josh Oakes.

Appearance: Beautiful creamy white head made up of small bubbles. The head is creamy and just right. The color is a glowing, semi-transparent yellowish/orange color. This is a very pretty beer.

Smell: Sweet, malty aroma with a touch of apple.

Taste: This beer starts with a weird vegetable taste that I can't quite pick out. It's short-lived on the front of the beer but still noticable. Otherwise the beer proceeds to be fruity and sweet with a nice malty finish.

Mouthfeel: It coats the palate with some uncomfortable stickiness and a sour aftertaste. It's also unexpectedly thin at the end.

Drinkability: What to say about this beer. It's decent, but it's not great. I doubt I would order it again if there were other choices.

This beer pours light gold with a white head. The head fades relatively quickly leaving a decent lacing. It has a citrus, fruity aroma. It smells of spices. It tastes mild. The fruit flavor is strong with a citrus aftertaste. The taste of hops are present. You can taste the alcohol also. It goes down smooth. It is a little too carbonated. This beer has a dry finish to it. This beer would probably be a good session beer, if you could get it. It took me a little while to track it down. I actually had to call the regional distributor. Ultimately, it was a decent beer that I would probably drink again.

Pours a pale gold with a nice sticky off-white head and lots of streaming bubbles. Great tropical esters control the nose. Nice citrus tones also present. Mildly sweet on the nose. Amazingly balanced. Malty and yeasty esters are most noticable, with a nice hop bitterness and some citrus zestiness. Great mouthfeel, amazingly flavorful and coating, but not heavy by any means. A really nice beer overall. Balanced, but with some nice twists. Well done.

Golden hazy straw color with a 1-inch head that recedes to a constant thin head. Nice lacing with this sticky brew. Smell is bananas mixed with some herbaceousness. The taste is a big, sweet, blonde monster up front, with some white fruit characteristics like peach, pineapple and banana. But the sweetness is quickly tempered by a strange herbal/vegetative flavor that I can only assume comes from the lemongrass with which this beer is claimed to be brewed. I don't really like this vegetative flavor, and it makes an otherwise pleasant Belgian strong pale slightly less enjoyable. Mouthfeel is good -- rich and creamy. I've had worse Belgian strong pales, but I've definitely had better.

Kudos to EyeChartBrew and mzwolinski for the opportunity to try this hard-to-find brew.

The bomber came to me via a trade from Eyedrinkale. The body was pale yellow, with a creamy off-white head. The aroma was bananas and lemons. The taste was soft and spicy (cloves, ginger, pepper) with a sweet (bananas, peach) and tart (lemon peel) dryness. The mouthfeel was clean and smooth, with a bit of a puckering astringency in the aftertaste. This is a by the numbers Belgian style beer, that does not pull anything spectacular.