Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

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

On tap at the bistro/brewery in Escondido. Pours a clear, bright orange body with a very dense, creamy and foamy, finger-width, white head that never completely dissipates and leaves a lot of sticky lacing. Aroma of bright and fresh floral hops as well as a dense, earthy pine. Lots of citrus and fruits from the Belgian yeast strain. Some light caramels as well as a bit of pepper. Smells and tastes just like their IPA with a Belgian yeast strain (obviously). The flavor is pretty damn good. The Belgian yeast adds a nice complexity that isn’t found in the IPA. Still has lots of floral and earthy bitterness, but more sweet and smooth fruits. Basically perfect balance. Finishes very dry with a fruity and long earthy lingering taste. Palate is medium bodied, but very easy drinking for such a flavorful beer. Overall, wonderful. Possibly the best Beglian IPA I’ve had. A great variation on their already amazing IPA.

Bottle from La Bodega.. Pours golden with a fluffy white head and lots of carbonation bubbles...Floral and citrus hops in the nose with some belgian yeast.. Slightly sweet with alot of citrus hops.. Super tasty.. Nice twist on a already solid beer.

Pours a very clear, almost lager, amber with a very powerful nose. Smells hoppy yet fruity(i smell a very strong grapefruit) at the same time,. Very little head. Very nice hoppy taste with a complex fruit overtone. Heavy citrus flavors compliment the bitter hops to round out the flavor very nicely. Very nice carbonation with hints of the alcohol in the palate. Very nice beer.

FIRSTLY: What’s with all the mediocre ratings for this beer? Is it just simply because it shows finesse and restraint? This is as good as any other Stone IPA I have tried! And they all get 4+ each to their own I suppose. Well, oh my, this is a tasty treat. I had my doubts about this (God, I do NOT know why...) but I did I should learn to trust more in Stone Brewing Co’s consistency. Not only am I pleasantly relieved, but I think I may have found one of my favourite Stone beers to date! It looks perfect in the glass, glowing rich golden with a fat creamy almost pure white head standing two fingers high. The aroma! The aroma is sweet, with grapefruit, herbs and the faintest - but most definite - trace of Belgian yeast reminiscent of Saison yeast or Westmalle Tripel. The flavour is excellent, classic Stone, somewhere between their Levitation pure blood grapefruit and their IPA... but then, whats this? in comes the clear flavour of a belgian beer, once again reminding me of the aftertaste from a sip of Westmalle tripel or perhaps Saison Dupont, this comes in very pleasantly tempering the full on Hop attack and mellowing it to a creamy grapefruit/cream cocktail. It is soft and voluptuous in the mouth, it looks as if it’s going to be overly effervescent but no, it’s creamy and mouth filling, defying your preconceptions when looking at it in the glass. The beer takes you o a journey of the best parts of Stone’s hop science then into sweet, herbal, spicy, citrusy, Belgian territory, finishing on a refreshing relatively bitter end with notes of resin, soap and Belgian yeast, balanced like I say with a burnt candy/sugar sweetness hovering over the death of the flavour. Stupendous people! This beer rocks. It is a great all year rounder, but especially brilliant on this sunny warm day. I will state - though there is probably no need - but as is to be expected the alcohol is kept low in the mix and well hidden. Bravo!!!

Location: Tried this one out of a 22 at RFDs. Jan ’09

Overall Impression: This one was really tasty, though I’d expect nothing less from the boys at Stone. A Cali IPA made with Belgian hops? Yes, please! An excellent experiment.

Bottle from Utobeer market stall. Pours a light orange/amber with a thick creamy head. Fruit bursts through in the aroma with caramel, floral notes, fresh bread coming through too. Very pleasant. Excellent lacing also. Flavours of lemon, coriander, grapefruit, some sweetness. Good hop explosion mouthfeel. Finishes more hoppier than a frog. Excellent IPA.

Fruity and citric nose with some barnyard yeast, banana and spice. Brilliant light gold in color with a frothy white head. Hops and Belgian flavors mesh delightfully. Some limes and very clean. Rich and chewy with a bitter finish. A great beer.

Beer fit for a king. Wonderful glowing golden color with white head. Head laces well down the glass. Good sweet smell and taste. Wonderful IPA.