Hoppy Stony Face Red Ale

Brewed by Hoppy Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Sacramento, California USA

Cloudy, maroon pour with a light beige creamy head. Smell was musty malt, light hops, and some chocolate. Taste was musty, chocolately and malty again, with a slight bit of hops. Drinkable, and darker in color and flavor than your standard amber, but nothing too special I thought. Just average.

650 ml bottle from Bevmo. Copper red with a fizzy head. Malty slightly fruity aroma. Malty caramel taste with a decent bitterness.

Date: May 19, 2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: clear dark red, huge creamy beige head, thick lace
Aroma: sweet caramel malt aroma with light floral hops
Flavor: sweet caramel malt flavor, light citrus character, lasting bitter finish

Date: July 06, 2009
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
Appearance: clear dark amber, fine off white head, lots of lace
Aroma: dry caramel malt aroma with earthy hops
Flavor: caramel malt flavor, just a touch oof sweetness is balanced by a huge earthyness

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

Poured a clear red color with a huge off-white head. The aroma was very light with a hint of nuts. The flavor was of toasty malt and mildly earthy. The finish had a mild bitterness and light citrus. Light to medium bodied.

Bomber from Liqourama: The color of this beer was beautiful. It poured a murky red with a huge creamy head. The taste to me was very complex. It had hints of grapefruit, but mostlyt malt and toffee. The texture was very smooth. A very nice and different beer

Pours with a three finger thick, amber-tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear, concentrated, ruby red color. Aromatic notes of sweet fruit (berries), caramel malts, toasted biscuits and herbal, almost pine-like hops are noticeable in the aroma. After trying to dissect the aroma for a bit a mix of malt and hop character makes me think of sharply tart grapefruit and lightly roasted coffee (or perhaps burnt tea leaves), the combination of which leaves me slightly confused because I swear I get a hint of cinnamon. An interesting aroma, that has a good mix of aromatic components.

A light carbonation cannot hide a smooth, almost creamy mouth feel that just coats the mouth. Sweet caramelized malt notes are quite noticeable, but are not quite as dominant as a biting hop character the is definitely bitter, but also adds touches of citrus and a definite mix of pine notes that leans towards menthol in a long finish. I would not call this beer a malt or hop focused brew (at least by today’s standards), but that does not mean that this beer does not have a lot of flavor, as both the malt and hop character play a prominent role here. This is almost like a precursor to Arrogant Bastard, or perhaps better put, like a little brother. As the beer warms a bit a hint of roast coffee flavors start to peak through.

I remember always trying Hoppy’s brews at beer festivals in the mid 90s and I am pleasantly surprised so far by the beers as I go back and try them again. A solid, easily drinkable, yet full flavored brew.

In the bomber bottle from Cyclone Liquors. Pours an explosively huge beige headed dark brownish cloudy amber color. I could not get this beer into a dozen glasses if I tried. Stupidly overcarbonated. Nice hoppy aroma that only produces a subtle citrus fruit scent, mostly a bigger toasted malt smell. Flavor was very sweet- a malty rich sweetness, not sugary sweet. I’d like this better if it could be poured.

32 ounce sample (-: from Woodstock’s Pizza in Davis, CA. Some piney, metallic hoppiness is present in the nose, but it was a little challenging to detect what else was in the nose due to such a high pour. Transparent dark amber color with a creamy light tan head. Wow. Creamy, lightly sweet, grainy, and VERY nutty. This is very smooth, milky, and a HUGE malt bomb. Beers like this show what a good grain bill can do to a beer rather than just throwing a shit ton of hops into a basic pale malt. Don’t get me wrong, those are sometimes good as well. There is a small spritzy, spicy, piney hoppiness in the finish of this. Very tasty stuff. It might have scored higher if I had a better vessel/pour to evaluate the aroma.