Stone 16th Anniversary IPA

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Escondido, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Poured into a perfect pint. 4.0 A: Clear light orange color. Two and a half fingers of frothy off-white head. Retention is pretty good given the ABV and a ton of lacing is left. 4.0 S: Surprisingly earthy. Usually Stone goes for floral and, while there is some of that, the hops are decidedly earthy. I’m loving the lemon components in this, which makes this come off somewhat like a hoppy saison. Though this is hop forward, the malts are quite potent as well. Plenty of caramel with just as much toastiness. This really isn’t all that complex and I doubt many will think much of this nose, but I am just loving the lemon too much to not give it a good score. 3.5 T: The taste is good, but there isn’t enough hops, which is something I rarely have to say about Stone’s beers. To be fair, it does have a big earthy hoppiness, but I want some complexity from the hops. There is some floral and woody notes, but not enough. There is a good balance between hops and malts though. Caramel and toastiness sticks out quite well. Moderate to heavy moderate bitterness. Booze is just barely detectable. The lemon products give a nice earthy lemony vibe, but not much in terms of tartness. Still, I like what they bring. 3.5 M: Heavier medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Not a lot of creaminess given that this is an IPA, but it’s not bad overall and it is quite smooth. 3.5 D: Decent effort. Doesn’t "wow" me in any way, but it was worth a try. Serving type: bottle 10-26-2012 04:02:02

Mango, papayas and a lot of sweet tropical fruits in the nose. Very fruity and mildly citrus. Pours a clear amber color with little head and no lacing. The first taste is very malty and sweet. A combination of molasses and front bitterness with a subtext of grassy hops. Very interesting flavor profile. The palate could be smoother. Lots of bitterness lingers in the middle and back of the tongue. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle: Poured a slight hazy amber color ale with a large foamy head with great retention and some good lacing. Aroma consists of citrus floral hoppy notes with some good notes of lemon. Taste is dominated by citrus and resinous hops notes with clear lemon notes without any tart flavours. Fruity notes from the Amarillo with light residual sugar form the malt backbone bring out a good balanced mix overall. Body was quite full with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very good and one beer that Stone should keep producing as a regular instead on an Anniversary one.

A nice copper body with a slightly off white head that had good retention and nice lace. Aroma had a nice caramel malt base and a heavy amount of hops some dank, resin hops upfront but there was a nice citrus hop note that balanced it out nicely. Mild lemon peel. Flavor was nice and sweet initially nice bitter hops upfront and the lemon and citrus flavors were strong enough but not to overpowering. A mild, almost peach-like flavor in the finish. Mildly dry and easy to drink. Alcohol was well hidden.

Had this fresh but didn’t rate. Now having it on draft aged almost a year. It’s a bit of a different beer, but it’s real good. Big mint, rosemary, and rye aromas and taste. The hops have faded and the rye has taken over. Real good. Real crisp. Dangerously drinkable.

Bottle: Pours a cloudy copper-orange color with a monster sand colored head. Nice lacing too. Nose is citrus and floral hops, caramel malt, and lemon. As is warms, the lemon scent really takes over, but it remains a sweet and inticing smell. The lemon takes center stage in the flavor profile, along with citrus and piney hops. The strong malt backbone is present, but subdued by the lemon. While I really enjoyed this, I’d imagine if you don’t care for lemon you may want to keep on walking. Thanks Jeremy for the hookup.

Bomber marked August 2012, let’s see how she’s holding up. Nose bright and hoppy, still smells fresh, has that strong Stone caramel base but with fruitier, new-age hops, a little dough, spice. Orange-leaning golden pour, clean and clear with a rocky off-white head, great doughy-hoppy nose again. Taste medium sweet with medium bitterness, orange peel and lemon, strong herbal notes after the initial wash of caramel subsides, gentle warming and tongue stripping on the back end, a little too much booze showing in the flavor, as well. Spicy, complex malt, there’s definitely a lot of rye showing here but I’m more inclined to think of this as a showcase for Amarillo. Fullish body, quite repeatable.

In short: A clean, boozy, disturbingly sweet and very bitter golden IPA. Just another palate destroyer.
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed 3 months after the beer release.
The look: Cleard golden body topped by a large beige head with good retention and leaving lots of lacings on the glass.
In long: Nose is obviously hoppy (clementines, floral) with spicy rye and some alcohol fumes. Taste has a truckload of spicy crusty rye bread, an overwhelming sweetness, floral hops, sweet clementines, flower juice, bitter green tea sensation, more sweetness, some cookies, virgin olive oil, booze, lemon juice, orange peels, bitter grapefruits. pine tree oil. Sharp abrasive bitterness with sweetness and booze dominating the after-taste. Overall oily sensation. Well levelled carbonation. The is a very clean beer, it is also a tasty beer for sure, more than tasty it is intense, a brutal beer to be more precise. This is to beer what a loud but entertaining blockbuster is to movies. I struggled to finish my bomber. Bigger is not better. Can probably do well in a tasting, but I don’t drink only 4oz of IPAs and this beer has a very low drinkability even if expertly brewed. Seems like I didn’t enjoy this one like most people, but my rating won’t change a thing, my opinion doesn’t matter, I’m insignificant, I’m such a nobody that in a movie about my life I’d probably just appear in the end credits at "Person sitting at the bar #3".

Poured from 750 mL bottle into a beer flute. Pours orange amber. Aroma is rye and malt with notes of pungent hops. Flavour is both sweet with fruit and toasted malt and bitter with California hops, with notes of spice and citrus. Overall a fantastically well done "Rye IPA".

Bottle from Oxford beer store. Sharp citrus nose and oily scent. Taste is sweeter lemon hop blend. Ends with spice that is a bit off. Not a great stone beer and I'm left disappointed. ---Rated via my mouth