Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

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

Has both the bitter spike from good hoppage, and a clovey floral bouquet. Pours golden with white head. Aroma is bananas. Flavor is sweet, but not cloyingly - ends on a bitter finish. SECOND ANALYSIS: What is it with the Belgian IPA and the Clove flavor? Le Freak by GF has this - I will check my Urthel Hop It and Piraat to make sure they don’t all have this.

bottle - Pours copper-yellow and mostly clear with a big off white head that leaves some lacing. The aroma is of citrus hops with Belgian yeast underlying it that includes a suggestion of banana. It tastes aggressively hopped. There’s no mistaking the west coast IPA style. There’s some good citrus to go with the crisp bitterness. It’s medium to full bodied and has a long, bitter finish. I’d be curious to try this one side by side with their regular IPA. For me the Belgian yeast was apparent in the aroma, but not much in the flavor where the huge hops dominated.

Thanks Walt for the bottle. Pours a clear gold with a very thin white head. Interesting aroma, but light. Belgian yeast, citrus, and some sugar. Flavor is slight sweet from the malt in the beginning but the hops overpower and there is some slick bitterness at the end. Interesting beer and I like the idea/style.

Bomber. Appearance: Light golden orange, small off white head. Aroma: Quirky smoke-hops with citrus and banana, yeast and a good amount of champagne! Flavour: Spicy yeast, lots of hops, yum! Flat champagne, yeast, wood, mild carbonation, some tea notes and a beautiful hop finish. Stone hits it out of the ball park again.

bomber. Clear golden in color with a medium off white head that recedes but retains well. Aroma has a good deal of citrus and some light floral hops, some fuity esters from the yeast- touch of banana and spice, a touch of earth. Taste has a good deal of citrus hops, some mild belgian esters- banana mostly and a touch of yeast spice. Medium bodied, finishes with a moderate hop bitterness.

Pours an amber color with an off-white head. Aroma is of citrus and pine hops with some caramel malts. Flavor is strong of citrus and pine hops with a hint of bubblegum and a little alcohol. The bubblegum flavor from the yeast is an interesting blend with the citrus and pine hops. Not a typical IPA but the belgium yeast makes this very interesting.

2008. Pours a sparkling clear, pale orange color with a brilliant white, moderately full, creamy head which has great longevity and leaves drippy lace. Nose is awesome; Belgain estery yeast bringing peach notes and clove, light grapefruit, orange peel, resinous pine. The Belgian yeast notes and the strong American hop presence actually worked well together in the aroma. The flavor is nice but the Belgian and American notes clashed a bit more; yeast is still estery with more banana, hints at tropical fruit, some pepper spice, and light clove. Other notes of resinous pine, orange peel, and faint grass. Palate is moderately light, a bit watery, and lively; two contrasting styles of palates competing didn’t work well. Finishes fairly long with lingering yeast and some bitter notes of pine and grass. The beer benefits most from its nose which was amazing, but other aspects competed and contrasted. The Belgain aspects overpowered the clean, fresh American hop notes but still an interesting beer and nice attempt from Stone.

22oz bottle from BevMo Mission Valley. I heard this is the same recipe as the IPA with the yeast being a Belgian strain. Big hoppy nose with a light funk. Good Hoppy flavor with again that Belgian yeast funk.....great stuff.