Stone Brewery – Lukcy Basartd Ale

Ahoy hoy fellow beer snobs! Today we come to you from casa de Rob on a joint beer analysis. It’s cold outside, the snow was deep but Don braved the cold, snowy quarter mile to my house to enjoy a tasty brew.

Up on deck is Stone Brewery’s Lukcy Basartd Ale. Don’t let your eyes deceive you, we didn’t misspell the name, that’s how it is on the label, believe it or not. Stone is known for their high gravity masterpieces and this one doesn’t disappoint. I won’t lie, this isn’t our first time around the block with this beer as it kicked off our new years eve celebrations. We held on to bottle #2 as long as we could so we could let you know about this brew while in a non-celebratory frame of mind, if you know what we mean.

First off, if you want to try this brew yourself, this came McScrooge’s Wine & Spirits in Cedar Bluff.  Don thinks he paid around $6.99 for a 22 oz bottle.

Okay, now the beer. If you’ll note we poured it in a snifter glass per Don’s stellar blog article yesterday. It pours copper with a bit of cloudiness to the body with a little head that clings to the side of the glass. You can certainly smell the hops, a hint of oak, a light malt aroma, and you can definitely pick up on the 8.5% ABV. When you taste it, the alcohol is a bit overpowering but after that dies off you get a somewhat bread-like taste that is pretty bitter but you get a nice oak or woods-esq flavor. Some perusing online shows others pick up on vanilla and citrus flavors that neither of us are really finding in the beer. It could possibly be the alcohol overpowering the flavor/smell right now but to us we’re getting more herbal aromas than citrus. However, everyone’s palate is different, what do you think?

Final snobs: Great beer but not one either one of us would drink with too often due to the high bitterness levels. Would be good for the final beer of the evening or if you’re just splitting a bottle with a fellow snob.