This is a good beer that fell slightly below expectations, inflated they may be. The aroma promises a complex mix of fruits and herbs, but the taste does not fully deliver. The sweet fruit flavor is present, as is a bready malt taste, but the spice bouquet and herbal profile are nearly absent, replaced by a dank bitter hop impression. There is some citrus riding the back of the aftertaste, but it is faint and not enough to make up for the lacking initial taste.
All this being said, I still encourage you to seek out this beer, especially its offshoots, which make good use of this beer as a solid base for further experiments. It's certainly a brew that invites discussion and even debate regarding its unusual flavor profile and ultimate delivery. Recommended, especially if you like experimental brews.
From the brewery:
"A beer that pays homage to a centuries-old tradition of combining new beer with aged “stock ales.” Freshly brewed beers of the day often were very smoky and bitter tasting, and were blended with older beer that had mellowed with age to produce more drinkable libations. This modern brew will showcase our brewers’ talents by blending a stock ale aged more than three months in oak foudres (large wooden fermentation vessels) with a fresh version of the same beer to create a perfect harmony spanning end to end on the taste spectrum."
[source: stochasticity.com]
"There is no happenstance or coincidence. Dumb luck is a fallacy and randomness a commonly accepted mistruth. Much of what seemingly falls into place and seems so natural is a result of Stochasticity, a concept embraced and exalted by this special and unpredictable series of beers, where exotic notions, ingredients and ideas coalesce at an interesting and often unexpected endpoint. Fresh and Vintage tracks combine for the perfect liquid playlist. Even before the science of beer was fully understood, those seeking to present the finest iteration of an ale had their ways of ensuring flavors and textures that were a cut above. In Britain, pub owners kept ‘stock ales’ on hand, beers that had been left to mature in vats or oak barrels. During this aging period, the beers would mellow and occasionally, develop a twinge of tartness. These publicans were unaware of the oxidative or microbilolicigal reasons for such changes, but found that blending some of their stock ales with fresh beers – which dented to be overly bitter and smoky – made ideal quaffs for their patrons. For this beer, we have taken a page from this tale of British pub life and blended a stock ale aged more than three months in oak foudres (large wooden fermentation vessels more commonly used by vintners) with a fresh version of that beer to create perfect harmony spanning end to end on the taste spectrum."
[source: bottle]
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