April 8, 2003 -- I admire insane brewers. Those lunatics of the brewing world for whom there is no alcohol level too high, no bitterness too extreme and no flavour too intense are my friends. Many go overboard in their quests for uniqueness, true enough, but a number also manage to keep balance in their excess.

Greg Koch and the gang at Stone Brewing of San Marcos, California, are quite mad. And I thank them for it.

During a recent visit to Los Angeles, I was able to sample my way through most of the Stone line. What I found were, for the most part, big beers crafted with one eye on extremes and the other on balance. Also, some of the funniest back labels in the wide world of beer. A few notes:

Levitation Ale - Stone's lightest, at 4.4% alcohol by volume, is also the brewery's most unbalanced. The start brings just a moment of soft, round and plumy malt before trashing the palate with forceful bitterness backed by light notes of citrus and vanilla. The finish leaves behind hop and little else. A hophead special for people who don't care about their tongues.

Stone Pale Ale - This 5.4% alcohol by volume pale boasts a round, hop-accented and slightly buttery nose. (Beginning to sense a trend here?) The flavour has plenty of hop, but this time balanced with some grape and plum note, plus a few hints of black liquorice. This pale is a quaffer with an off-dry, lingering bitterness on the finish.

Stone IPA - Ah, now we're talking. This moderately strong IPA (6.9% alcohol by volume -- 'moderate' being, of course, relative) sports a dry, leafy hop aroma fragrant with perfumey florals and tobacco leaf notes. The body brings lots of hop, so much so that it almost tastes piney, but meets it with some peppery spice and background honey notes. This is a nice IPA with good balance between the hops, malt and alcohol. I could drink a lot of this.

Ruination IPA - Rated on the label as measuring more than 100 units of bitterness, this 7.7% alcohol by volume IPA neither smells or tastes it, thanks to a ton of malty fruitiness. Though it teeters on the edge of chaos, this beer holds everything together quite nicely and makes for a pleasant nightcap.

Stone Smoked Porter/6th Anniversary Smoked Porter - Two robust porters, but neither hugely smoky. (Although I must admit that I sampled the stronger, bigger Anniversary at the end of the night, so my perception of it's smokiness was probably reduced due to palate fatigue.) Notes of raisin, smoke and dark chocolate in each, with more intensity in the stronger ale. NB: The Anniversary Smoked Porter has one of the most riotously funny back label text I have ever read.

Arrogant Bastard Ale/Double Bastard Ale - The over-the-top beers that made Stone famous. The 7.2% alcohol by volume single Bastard is coppery-brown with an aroma rich in resiny, piney hop and chocolaty malt. The body carries a heavy hop bitterness along with cocoa notes and some intense fruit flavours, such as reduced prune juice and over-dried black currants -- both really much better than they sound. Overall, this is a very nice beer, and after a glass or two, I doubt that you'd even notice the hop assault. The 10% alcohol Double Bastard is, to my palate, even better balanced. The aroma is thick and rich and filled with fruit that has been sitting in a rum bath for weeks, while the body carries a flavourful mix of sugar and fruit, with significant hoppiness, some spicy notes (cinnamon, nutmeg) and a low-key resiny quality. The only problem I have is with its overly 'hot' alcoholic finish, but I suspect that a little time in the cellar would cure that nicely.

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