Stone Imperial Red

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

Poured into a 4oz taster glass at Stone. This one looks like a murky brown at first, but in the light it has a ruby glow. It was like a sexy beer snowglobe with the particles form dry hopping floating and swirling in the beer. Nice medium tan head that retained nicely. Smells of hops and hops and hops. A little bit of bread and caramel, but mostly just hops. This was the best tasting of all the pilots IMO. Silky malt backbone with some bitter west coast hops. Not as overly hoppy as I was hoping, but the beer is big. And big in a good way. Not too sweet, but enough to compete with the hops. If this does end up becoming their anniversary release I will probably stock up.

On tap at the brewery on the pilot tasting evening shared with my wife. Amber hue with some whitish head. Nice hoppy smell with just a touch of sweetness. Medium bodied brew.Good solid bitterness with a medium amount of the sweet crystal malt. Very easy to drink. Would have liked a bit more body and big flavors personally but a good beer none the less.

Pours dark amber with a thin off white head and specks of lace. Smells sweet and malty with a nice, spicy hop aroma. Tastes malty sweet and red fruity hoppy. SLightly spicy. The hop profile reminds of both AB and DB. Medium body, good carbonation.

On tap at Stone. I’d love to see this as a regular beer. Smells wonderful. Fruity hoppy aroma. Sweet and malty. Medium bitterness. Insanely easy to drink.

1st rating, on tap at the world bistro today with wetherel, dr.bill, and later doubleo. In Dr. Bill’s opinion the best of the bunch and its pretty damn good. Pours reddish with no head. Nose is sweet with some malts. Taste shows a big hoppy presence, with a balanced sweet malty vibe. Excellent all around.