Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Escondido, California USA

Bomber into a pint glass. Pours a slightly hazy gold with a small, rocky, cream head that has very good retention and leaves some good lacing. Very nice aroma of honey, grapefruit, herbal hops, caramel, Pina Colada! Taste is heavy on the piney and resiny hops and then quickly turns to a dry, cardboard, Brazil nut, bitter finish but with the Belgian yeast aspect making it very similar to a weizenbock. I think the combination of Belgian yeast with my third favorite IPA of all time sounds like a shoe-in for one of my favorite beers. But this really disappoints. I wish that Stone went all out and made a true, hoppy weizenbock with a big rather than subtle yeast presence. I know there is an unflitered version of this but it likewise has obtained low scores.

Bomber into pint glass. Nice light golden pour with an enticing and dense white head that holds and laces respectably. The aroma is all belgian - belgian yeast, banana, and cloves, like a wit. Only a hint of hops on the aroma. Definitely more hops on the flavor than the aroma. Tastes like an over-hopped (given the traditional guidelines) belgian wit or maybe a german hefe. Dry resinous finish. It takes a while to get used to, since it is two conflicting flavors combined, but it is pretty enjoyable on the whole. Medium to light bodied with medium carbonation. Overall: interesting and pleasant.

Caramel orange with a thin white cover. Aroma is pine, spicy, grassy, sweet malt. Taste is again spicy, pleasant pine resin, bitter, sweet malt, caramel, yeast spicy.

22oz. Bottle: Aroma of hops, Belgian yeast, pollen, slight dish-soap, and a hints of coconut and bubblegum. Poured amber/gold in color with a medium-sized, creamy, off-white head that diminished but lasted throughout. Clear. Lightly sparkling. Very good lacing. Flavor is lightly sweet and light to medium bitter. Tastes of hops, Belgian yeast, pollen, pine, slight fruit, and some bubblegum. Light to medium body. Slightly sticky, lightly dry texture. Average carbonation. Hops, yeast, and pollen finish. I’m disappointed.

Very strong, grassy and not overwhelmingly hoppy, IPA. Stone has done well here to make something without a mallet. Nice job.

Draught at the Stone Company Store, thanks to Phil (I had to get something extra for asking all of those intelligent questions on the tout, right?). Fruity and yeasty aroma with bubblegum and banana evident. This shows up in the flavor as well, but the rest is all Stone IPA. Nice, but not quite as good as the original.

Poured from a bottle. Aroma- Piney hops, hop resin. A biscuit aroma and berry-like esters exist to a lesser degree. Appearance- Gold in color. Good clarity with a strong, white head. Taste- Very high bitterness, fruity esters, low malt background. It is spicy, which I think is phenols combined with the hop bitterness. Palate- Bitterness detracts from mouthfeel, high carbonation. Overall- I didn’t get a big Belgian presence in this beer. The bitterness could have been reared in a bit to show off other flavors.

This bear is weird. I like what they are trying to do but here it just didn’t work. Citrus hops, yeast, they fought each other instead of complimenting.