One of the most respected craft breweries is Stone Brewing Company out of San Diego. Since I'm going through a hop fatique, let's try their pale ale. I am enjoying this brew with returning hero, Curtis. 

Color- Roche: Deep copper...I've never seen this color in a beer before.

          Curtis-Cherrywood.

Smell- Roche: Piney hops

          Curtis: Hop nose with a grapefruit rind.

(Sidenote: I hate Curtis and his educated pallette)

Taste- Roche:I taste that grapefruit on the lips before giving way to a minor hop explosion.

          Curtis: Hop bitterness with some sweetness on the back end.

Mouth- Roche: Medium bodied and a dry, sweet finish. Tasty chocolately malt in the mouth

           Curtis: Light bodied and highly carbonated. 

Overall- Roche: Packs a nice punch for 4.4%. Dry isn't completely up my alley but the sweetness balances it out nicely. 

           Curtis: A lot of character for the low ABV. A little thin for my tastes. Would be good to drink with a nice fatty food to balance it out.

About Levitation Ale:

This deep amber ale has rich & roasty malt flavors, a big hoppy character, citrus overtones (courtesy of the hops and our special brewers yeast) and modest alcohol.

And you thought Stone Temple Pilots was done for good now that Scott Weiland was officially fired from the band.

Surprise! They are back with Chester Bennington of Linkin Park handling vocals.

The revamped STP played a few surprise shows over the weekend featuring all the classic STP songs and...a new song called "Out Of Time."

I wouldn't think of Chester being a replacement for Weiland but his vocals actually fit very well with the STP sound.

What do you think?

It looks like the Koreans do yoga a little bit differently than we do.

Having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of lithe yoga ladies doing a demonstration of the Korean style of yoga.

Sorry for the camera angle...apparently the Koreans also film goofy videos differently than we do.

Look-Cloudy, dark brown. Very little head.

Smell-I took a big whiff of this couldn't find much of an aroma.

Taste-Definite malt backbone (my first use of that beer term...I'm so excited) but outside of that...I'm not getting much else as far as flavor.

Mouth-Medium bodied. The barleywine texture is definitely apparent. Not getting much hop though.

Overall-Coming in at 8%, this could be trouble since it's VERY smooth. I enjoy the malty backbone but wish I could taste more in this beer. I good beer...but my least favorite from Mad Fox so far.

About Leonidas:

This brew was designed to be something special to mark out 300th brew much like its predecessor Batch 100. We took a different approach and took most of the dark malt character out and made this in the spirit of a rich West Coast Double IPA. English pale and crystal malts melded with German Cara-wheat, Carafa and Munich malts form a solid malt backbone. The kettle additions of hops follow with 100% American bred Citra hops to be followed by dry hopping with Citra and another favorite in the Simcoe varietal to lend a piney, citrus hop character to the juicy malt flavor. Enjoy this version now while you can and expect to see the rest of the batch in a barrel aged version in June. Cheers!

Look-Golden and clear. 

Smell-Yeast, barley, and malts.

Taste-Nicely sweet on the lips.

Mouth-light to slightly medium bodied. Very well balanced in the mouth between the malt and the hops. Hang on...is that grapefruit as a delayed aftertaste? Probably not, but it was pleasing nonetheless.

Overall-This is a higher ABV then the first two days but at 6.5%, it's not gonna knock you on your ass or anything. I really like the sweetness of this beer and appreciate (because of my hop fatique) the subtle (but not overpowering) hop notes. 

About Elixir:

A deep golden-colored, light bodied seasonal lager. Pilsner, Vienna and Dark Munich malts balanced by Tettnanger hops gives this beer its toasty nose, smooth yet crisp character and late dry finish. Notes of light honey and Hazelnut.