1001 Beers

Photo courtesy The_Photographer

Beer No: 66
Page No: 333
Category: Blond

After a rough Friday night, what better way to spend a Saturday than with a trip down to Stone Brewing Co?  It just so happened that at noon, the lovely Laurie from 100 Beers in 30 Days was going through Saisons and Dr. Bill lined up a beautiful selection of Saisons on tap just for her.  Of course, all of us other peons at the bistro that day were able to partake in the tap lineup.  Not knowing which were in 1001 Beers, I just picked one at random, the Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux.

And, it just so happens that the Dupont beer is in the book.  Not really knowing, I forgot to break out my camera, but I did get a chance to use my new books from 33 Beers.com.  These little books fit in any pocket and handily hold 33 beer reviews.  I didn't want to take too much time to work through my review, but what I returned home with was a 4/5 rating and notes of, "spicy, fruity, golden orange, no head, adequate lacing, finishes dry, bitter."  The ABV is a surprising 9.5% and on the flavor wheel (a very simplified version of the one on the site linked), I have high "linger" and "fruity/citrus" with medium floral, bitter, astringent, and body.  Sour, toffee, and burnt were all low on the wheel.  But it's really fun to be able to quickly take notes, toss the book back in your pocket, and continue on with the lunch.

After a good lunch (I wasn't impressed my first time there, but was very happy with both the pretzels and the chicken tikki), we went on the Stone tour, which I had not done yet - which is crazy since it's really only one and a quarter to one and a half hours away.  The tour guide was awesome and gave a pretty good overview of the basic brewing techniques.  It's pretty cool to just see that they do what I do at home, but just on a larger level (e.g. boiling for same amount of time, milling their own grains, etc.).  He said that currently they produce 1/1000th of Anheuser Busch and that their goal is 2.5/1000 and they'll be done growing at that point.  As long as they keep the quality high, I'm all for more Stone Brews.

Here's a couple quick pictures I took - including boxes of bottles for their upcoming 14th Anniversary brew - an Imperial IPA.  Boy, I can't wait for that one.  Hops galore me thinks.

Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux from Brasserie Dupont

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.7 / 5.0

Had from bottle on April 18, 2003 at the Suffed Sandwich
An interesting beer, it pours with a small white head and a cloudy yellow coloring. The flavor is initially acidic with a bitter finish. I enjoyed the citric flavoring which masks the 9.5% ABV very well.