Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

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

Pours a deep golden color with a small amount of head. Aroma is Belgian hops and citrus. Taste is bitter citrus (grapefruit), some banana, and a little bit of spice in the aftertaste. Pretty good beer and the Belgian hops make it an interesting IPA.

This one is a totally different beer when cold versus when up to near room temperature. Light orange with a slim but lasting white head throughout. Initial aroma is Belgian yeast, some citric hops, pepper, and clove. As it warms, the yeast qualities fall back as well as the clove, replaced by warm tropical fruit oriented hops. Flavor when cold is frankly a train wreck. Spicy and heavily clove accented Belgian yeast clashing mightily with very bitter citric grapefruit hops. A war in the mouth. Once warmed, however, everything falls into line. Belgian yeast, with faint banana, clove, and pepper, mix quite amicably with an intricate layer of tropical fruit flavors and grapefruit. It all works. I will rate this "warm."

Belgian yeast on a stone ipa. Pours blond with diminished head. Good carbonation. Dank hops, thick warm aroma. Fruit...lemon, nice and bitter.

Beer pours golden with a nice white head that sticks around. Aroma is of piney fresh hops. Beer has a dominating IPA flavor with a slightly "funky" flavor from the yeast (also the description from the bottle). The different yeast use is definately noticable but not overbearing. The palate is slightly sticky which I like in an IPA. Overall I like the beer. That said, I’d probably pick up a regular IPA before picking this up again.

22oz. por golden clear with nice white head. aroma is slight with a little floral hops. not typical stone ipa... mouthful has a bit of spice that is followed up with a nice bitter hop finish. the balance is more toward belgian than ipa. very nice but not a stone fav of mine.

Bottle into Sam Adams Lager glass. Pours a hazy pale copper, effervescent, with a fluffy, rocky off-white head that doesn’t want to go away. Nose is sweet, smooth banana and some creamy sweetness from the yeast, citrus peeks through from the hops as well, melting into the sweet yeasty note. Taste is yeasty up front, some banana, with the hops coming through as a grassy bitterness - not really getting much citrus through the yeast, maybe just a bit. Malt character is doughy, biscuity, also gets wrapped up with yeast. Finish is a light lingering bitterness, more yeast hangs around in the exhale. Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, fluffy, medium-light bodied. Creamy from the head that never quits. An interesting variation, kind of startling how far away this beer is from the standard IPA. Yeast changed the whole character of the beer - unfortunately, I feel like the beer loses some major character from the transfer. The malt and hops notes just kind of get tangled up in the yeast, and the result is a beer that’s just very yeast-dominated in the end. A nice enjoyable beer, but not the masterpiece the IPA is.

bomber thanks to jrob21. Pours a clear, pale yellow with a huge white head. Nose was spicy, perfume and floral hops. Taste is Belgian yeast and spice. Mouthfeel is medium with a bitter finish. OK, now this was different. Like an IPA, but with Belgian yeast thrown in. Kinda odd, but still decent.

Pours a regular gold. Doesn’t look like anything special. The aroma is strong hops. First taste is in stark contrast to aroma; taste is hoppy, but not overly so. Very interesting how the Belgian yeast changes the flavor profile of Stone IPA. While itself this beer may be somewhat unremarkable, I find it very interesting to for a brewery to change one aspect of a flagship beer and release it to the public. By changing the yeast, drinkers get educated regarding the impact the yeast strain has on the beer. I applaud this approach and would like to see more beers that are slight variations on well known varieties so that the consumer better understands the effects of the ingredients and brewing techniques on the final flavor of a beer. I applaud thee, Stone! All in all, a drinkable, pretty hoppy yet strangely light IPA that is distinctly Stone yet distinctly Belgian. Unique yet entirely quaffable.