“Long before the wizardry of steam was invented, brewers used stone and wood to brew their daily beer. As a tribute to this ancient technique, we add wood fired stones to the kettle to rouse the boil and intensify the malt characters of this seasonal brew. Serving up a platter of dark fruits and toasted nuts, the 2015 stone beer earthy, rich and balanced. The sumptuous complexity is driven by the use of 11 different malt types including Vienna, Choc, Wheat and caramelised malts along with Hallertau Hersbrücker hops, this traditional European ale has a sweet caramel flavour that finishes with a dry roasted bitterness”.
Served in a shaker glass. The dark cola pour reveals subtle crimson hues when held against the light. Crowning it off is a tanned head that swells to about two fingers in height before reducing to a wispy layer over the top. Some wet, streaky lacing is released as it ebbs. Quite complex on the nose actually. It’s almost like a dark ale, a porter and a stout has been blended with a robust dark roast tantalising the olfactory initially. We also get a firm earthy nuttiness, figs, chocolate, caramel and a hint of coffee bitterness to fill it out. Pretty good. In the mouth it’s dense and viscous but with a surprisingly silky texture. Co2 is expectedly minimal with the 6.4% ABV being very well hidden. Kind of slides down with ease. The palate is just as complex with an earthy roasted malt tasted on entry. Plenty of nutty sweetness develops as a hint of either peat or charred wood is detected through the mid. A suggestion of caramel leads on to slightly bitter coffee in the finish. Wow, the brewers have separated the flavours in this beer really well, none of them overlap or get muddled, they just seem to roll easily in to one another perfectly. Another year, another delicious stone beer from these Byron Bay brewers.