2015 marked the seventh year of Stone Brewing Company’s American Homebrewers Association-sanctioned Stone Homebrew Competition. Juli Goldenberg, this year’s winner, added carrots, raisins, cinnamon and more to a Belgian-style golden strong ale to create a beer that is the liquid embodiment of carrot cake.
As the name implies, this beer is richly aromatic and envelopes the palate with decadent flavors of cream cheese frosting, cinnamon, vanilla, carrots and raisins plus subtle malt sweetness, ending with a medium-dry finish. It’s nothing short of brilliant and well deserving of the 24 karat (carrot?) golden opportunity to be brewed by Stone and distributed across the country.
By Brewmaster Mitch Steele
Appearance
Pours golden with a creamy white head of foam.
Aroma
This beer smells like a cream cheese-frosted carrot cake, but better! Cinnamon, vanilla, light carrots and raisin, hint of banana fruitiness and Belgian yeast spice are all apparent in the aromatics.
Taste
Cinnamon and vanilla blend together upfront, followed by the spicy yeast character and a smooth creaminess that is reminiscent of cream cheese frosting. Unbelievable.
Palate
Medium bodied but creamy and smooth drinking.
Overall
This beer is really quite incredible. I wasn’t able to attend our homebrew competition at our annual American Homebrewers Association (AHA) membership rally this year. When Lead Brewer Jeremy Moynier texted me with the news that Juli’s beer won and that it was a carrot-cake beer, I was both excited and admittedly a bit skeptical…but when I tasted it, I realized we had a very special opportunity here. I’m so glad Juli, Cosimo of Monkey Paw, and our brewing team worked so well together to find a way to replicate this challenging recipe on our 120-barrel brewhouse. I’m even more impressed with the fact that we absolutely nailed it!
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