Thursday, June 6, 2013

STONE 16TH ANNIVERSARY IPA @StoneBrewingCO


I’m sure it seems I’m becoming quite the Stone “Fan-boy”…to that I say YES I AM!  I first tried Stone Beer back in 2010.  I’d like to gleefully thank my X for going off the deep end and leaving because that set into motion a chain of events that has given me freedom, financial stability and a stress-free life or as stress free as one can be but most importantly it put me on a collision course with the craft beer industry…to that I say thank you, you did me a HUGE favor and that was probably the most useful thing you did in the 6 plus years we were together…Cheers! 

I’ve been drinking various offerings from Stone for the last three years and Stone has been around for a lot longer and I was lucky enough to pick up a bottle of their 16th Anniversary IPA and it was fuggin tasty dawg!!

Stone's been creating Collaboration beers with great creative brewers from all over the world these last several years-unique beers that would never have existed without the free-flowing imagination and idea generation of the collaborative process. However, when it comes to the Stone Anniversary Ales, it's all them. Yet, it is indeed still a collaboration with great creative brewers. They're talking about their own brewing team, of course. And while some of their beers, anniversary and otherwise, have been designed by a single person, the Stone 16th Anniversary IPA was definitely a team effort.

This year their brewing team was inspired by some exotic-ish additions of the lemony persuasion. Yes, it's a Double IPA (can you really say you're surprised?), but as they strive to do with all their Stone Anniversary Ales of the let's-take-this-IPA-in-a-new-direction variety, They've brewed up a Stone-worthy divergence from tradition. The amount of rye malt we used isn't quite enough to warrant the appellation "Rye IPA," but it still adds hints of spiciness that contrast deliciously with the tropical fruit flavors and aromas of the Amarillo and Calypso hops. Add a few European specialty malts, some lemon verbena, and three more hop varieties to the mix, and you have a highly complex brew melding both bitter and fruity hop notes with rich toasted malt character punctuated by nuances of spicy rye and subtle lemon.

Style: American double/ imperial IPA
ABV%: 10
Brewery: Stone Brewing Company, San Diego, CA.
Beer Advocate: 86 very good

This was a bad ass beer from start to finish!  I took this to Game of Thrones night and shared it!  If I had to pick words to describe this beer it would be spicy, herby, floral, hoppy, malty, citrusy and ultimately intense!  It was one of the most complex double IPAs I’ve ever tried!  I thought Dayman was something to marvel, well so is their 16th Anniversary IPA!  Bravo to Stone on yet another amazing beer!  The refreshing and lemony start pours a nice amber color.  It basically explodes with different flavors!  As it warms up it reveals some of its more malty character!  Cold it exhibits something straight out of a hoppy fruit juicy flavor!  This beer was all over the place!  I bought this back in the fall and now I wish I’d bought a few more bottles! 

Cheers!!

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