Hoppy Brewing Co. Stony Face Red Ale

Our first sampling of the New Year comes from Hoppy Brewing Co. out of Sacramento CA. We're trying their "Stony Face Red Ale". The beer pours a murky light brown, not really red, with a fluffy off-white head. The aroma is musty with a tinge of sweetness. It's flavor is a blend of roasty bitterness, coming from the use of  Dark Caramel and Chocolate Malts, and the infusion of Nugget and Cascade hops. The malt blend was initially interesting but the hop bitterness quickly overpowered the flavor of the beer.  The lack of traditional hop aromatics and rounded hop flavor will likely not appeal to hop heads.  This is a good beer but not what I would expect from a hoppy Red Ale. The encouraging aspect of  Stony is that it's quite sessionable at 5.6%ABV. Hoppy Brewing doesn't list the IBU's and it's hard to tell whether the bitterness is coming from  the hop or the malt roasting. I'm leaning toward the malt. Unfortunately the name of a beer sets up an expectation. For me Stony Face Red Ale drank much more like a bitter Brown Ale rather than a Red Ale. So give it a try and judge for yourself. Cheers!


For more information on Hoppy brewing and their beers visit: Hoppy Brewing Company