Beer Brawl™ 30 was the brain child of Kevin Malavarca from the Liquor Outlet in Boonton NJ. Since we are right around the corner from the Super Bowl, what better way to prepare then to figure out what is the best session beer. The Session Beer Challenge, each of us brought our two favorite session beers to the table for a winner take all (bragging rights) challenge.
OK, OK, I know I’m not supposed to drink this for another 800 years, but I bought 2 bottles, so it’s ok! Right on the label Stone says it is designed to be drunk after 2012, so where probably talking about a really hoppy malty beer. Stone describes this as a “Belgian style Imperial Porter”, yeah it’s a mouth full. This is the 8th beer in Stones Epic Vertical series. I bet in 2012 there are going to be some pretty killer vertical tastings of all 11 stone beers, but that is a couple years down the road.
One of the things I love about Stone is their labels. One of the things I hate about Stone is their labels. They are pretty funny and insulting at the same time. The 13th Anniversary beer is no different, right of the bat they are telling me don’t cellar the beer. I wasn’t planning on it, but since you told me not to, I think I will. But when it comes down to it, I love labels but I don’t drink beer for the labels or name on the beer, I drink beer for the beer. Quite frankly if you have a super cool or ballsy label, your beer better be that much better! On to the review!
This weeks Beer Brawl features one of my favorite styles of beer, American Porter. A bit bigger, hoppier, and/or roastier then their European predecessors. These dry beers are usually Medium to full bodied, moderately malty, and usually feature a lightly burnt taste with chocolate or coffee flavors.
On June 28th my buddy Rich and I went to our second beer tasting sponsored by the Draught Board 15 at the Gaslight Brewery in South Orange NJ. The first tasting was with Brooklyn Brewery, a great event, lots of good beer (Local 1&2, Brooklyn-Schneider, Dark Matter, and Black Ops), knowledgeable rep, and lots of swag. Rich and I thought we were going to be in for another great event, especially since I also have enjoyed many good Stone beers lately, Cali-Belgie and the Double Bastard Ale. 
I’d never seen the Stone Cali-België IPA in a store in New jersey before, so when I did, I grabbed a bottle of it without knowing much about the beer. Basically the Stone Cali-België IPA is an American IPA fermented with Belgian yeast.
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