Getting stoned at the Toad
Not many bars treat craft beer with the reverence The Old Toad shows. Over the years, the managers and student-servers of this venerable English pub have gone out of their way to teach Rochesterians about great beer, show what can be accomplished when airing beer and food, and highlighting some of the finest brewers in the country.
They did it again last night with Stone Fest. San Diego’s Stone Brewing Company is considered one of the finest craft brewers in America. Just mention the name Stone around beer dorks and watch them furtively crouch over so no one notices the growing bulge in their expand-o-waist pants.
The Toad really did it up with Stone. Four taplines were devoted to the uber-brewery’s beers, pumping out Stone Pale Ale, Double Bastard, 10th Anniversary IPA, and 2007 Old Guardian Barley Wine.
With the exception of the Pale Ale, these are big, explosive beers, uncompromising in the intensity of their flavor, and the skill with which they’re brewed is apparent at first sip. It’s almost like beer concentrate. The hop flavors dominate, I mean absolutely beat your tongue into submission, and yet there’s none of the sharp bitterness that makes beer unbalanced. Bitterness flaws are so common among barley wines that they’ve become an accepted part of the flavor profile, but the Stone Old GuardianI drank last night showed none of that.However, it was a year old, so the beer could have quite possibly rounded outwith cellaring.
The Pale Ale is rare in Western New York, and it’s the first Stone offering I’ve tried that didn’t wear the mantle of an ‘extreme’ beer (although many would argue the Stone IPA isn’t extreme either). It was refreshing in its restraint, tasting almost like a soft English pale ale instead of a hoppy American-style pale. Of course, I tasted the Pale Ale after the Double Bastard, so I’d lost all feeling in my tongue. Still, it was an eye-opening experience, showing a side of Stone I’d not yet seen.
Most of these delicious beers are ‘one and done’ for me. They’re just too much. As the night went on, though, it became evident that many of my fellow Stone fans didn’t share that problem. Still, everyone kept their pants on, and handled these huge, highly alcoholic beers with the dignity and restraint that craft beer deserves.
Sometimes, love is truly blind.
-Mark
Aw, I wish you previewed this (assuming you knew about it ahead of time) like with the Fish Fest they did. I would have loved to go… maybe they still have ‘em on tap. I’ll be stopping by…love Stone!
Not sure where everyone gets the idea that Stone is some “extreme beer” brewery, a la Dogfish Head. Their IPA and Pale are both very reasonable, and though they put out the odd specialty/seasonal (8.8.08, XI Anniversary), they are pretty middle of the road in terms of style. It’s just that each style they create is superior (especially Ruination, a world-class double IPA). Don’t let the website fool you, Stone is putting out beers for the average beer drinker with any taste at all.