Stone India Pale Ale (IPA)

a fearsome stone figure that has power to ward ward off evil spirits. Good hoppy taste Pours a clear yellow with a hoppy aroma. Hazy orange w/ a huge off-white head.

Solid IPA. Nothing too hard to handle with a moderately masked sweet finished so the bitterness is finely juxtaposed. I like

On tap at DLD ’09. Pours an absolutely crystal clear, bright golden body with a gorgeous, two-finger width, foamy and dense, off-white head that never dissipates entirely and stays extremely lacy. Sexual. Aroma is loaded with citrus. Lots of sour grapefruits and oranges. Some soft malts hold it together nicely, but mostly juicy, fresh off the vine hops. I’m taken back by how good this smells for being so simple. The flavor is brilliantly straightforward as well. Intensely hoppy. Tons of citrus and medium earthiness. A deep pine taste, like middle of the damn forest deep. Some melony goodness comes in as well as simple caramels and light bready notes. Lingers forever. Medium bodied, crisp yet smooth, and surprisingly easy drinking for such a hop explosion. Overall, phenomenal. Assertive, but never out of balance or over-the-top. Wow! Definitely tied for the #1 spot on my IPA board.

12 oz. bottle (2009) courtesy jbean. Beautiful, beautiful IPA. Hazy orange w/ a huge off-white head. Flowery cascade goodness and quite well-balanced to boot. Only marginally below the Two Hearted ale. Lovely.

Bottle. Very nice golden color, with an off-white head that sticks around. Hoppy taste and aroma that dominate the beer, in a good way. On the drier side. Bold...like any Stone brew, its , looking to leave an impression!

Fantastic IPA. Great example of the style. Appearance is a golden pale. Nice head and solid lacing Smell is hops, hops, hops. Citrus dominate with some pine and floral hints. Taste is hoppy, citrus, floral, bitter. Great balance between bittering hops and flavor hops. Finish isn’t sweet but there is a dry malt flavor on the very back end. Mouthfeel is very nice. Drinkability is terrific if you are a fan of the style. If you don’t like IPA’s..this one isn’t for you. Great beer. It’s simplistic: hops are hops and malts are malts. Not overly complex but everything is in perfect balance allowing one to enjoy this fine beer in all it’s glory. Well done. Serving type: bottle

On tap at DLD ’09. I’m not really sure why I was so skeptical about this one going into trying, but it absolutely blew me away. I had already tried quite a few world class before trying it, so maybe I was alittle overly happy from the day of drinking quality beer, but the entire time drinking this, I wasn’t sure if I was just imagining how good this beer really was. I’ll have to re-rate sometime, but at that moment, this is what I had: The aroma definitely leans toward the hoppy side, but never there’s never too much. Enticing smells to perfection. Just so many different hop notes with floral bouquets, citrus, grapefruit, melons, earth, and all of it coming together brilliantly. A backing aroma of basic yet pleasant caramels and pale malts that are exactly what the beer needed. Probably the only weakness I can see in this beer is in its appearance, only because of the lighter looking body, otherwise, still very appealing with good sized creamy froth head, mild carbonation, great lacing and retention the whole way, and golden tangerine in color. I know my friends thought I was crazy when i first started drinking this, but golly! I really couldn’t believe how it tasted. The hoppy bitterness is just impossible to beat. Just too complex and it works too well. Citrus grapefruits, mixed citrus, melons, and earth galore. Again, like the aroma, just the perfect backing of basic, but great quality malts with caramels and pales. The bitter then just lasts, and lasts, and lasts in the finish. Incredible! Too good to be true!

It’s filtered and clear and beautiful and looks like a million bucks, but the bitterness lingers in a way that’s remarkably out-of-balance. There’s actually not much hop *flavor*. Thought it would be better, more surprising. A perfectly clean beer, though uninspired.