Stone India Pale Ale (IPA)

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

Pours dark amber with thick white head. aroma fresh hops .citrus, grapefruit . taste is very bitter , oily . has slight sweet malt backbone. Nice sticky lacing.

On tap at Dark Lord Day 09 as one of the many beers on "The Fancy Beer Tapping Schedule". Poured a fairly clear, light orange/amber with a thick white, foamy head and excellent rings of lacing. The aroma was strong but pleasant pine, and then citrus, toned down a bit by some smooth malt. Ditto on the flavor with some nice even hop bitterness. Up there with all the solid IPAs.

Bombers from Wegmans, VERY well priced. Uncaps a ’oh yeah!’ aroma and pours a beautiful goldy hazy yellow and fine moderate head releasing fruit citrus and hint of spruce and sweetness. Taste big open juicy hop profile, all citrus and piney, and no lack of bittering hops over the beguiling pale fruit (pear or peach?) that lurks underneath. The assertively dry bitterness runs away a bit over the initial mellowness, which maybe just calls for salty buttery snacks or cuts of fine charcuterie. I love the subtle aromatic tones along with that bitterness. No... you don’t understand, I’ve just never had any beer like this particular India Pale. THIS is the American IPA. Something has now arrived for me.

12 oz. bottle from Total Wine. Bright orange in color with a nice white head. Piney and light citrus hop aroma. Flavor of piney hops with bitter grapefruit. No alcohol presence just everything that makes an IPA great. Absolutely one of the top IPAs available.

12 oz. bottle@Olympen, Oslo. Pale amber with an orangey shade and slight haze. Firm white head. Predominant hop aroma; sweet grapefruit, oranges, some resin and a touch of perfume. Malts in the background. Nice hoppy flavor as well; lots of citrus, pine and resin, quite sharpish, yet tasty and fresh. Delicate sweet malts in the backbone. Well-bodied. Fruity-bitter ending. Moreish, high drinkability.

Pours plain amber with white head. Nose is hop focused, as expected, with emphasis on fresh pine and grapefruit. Prickly hops on the palate with good carbonation and lick smacking hop presence. Very "juicy". Finish leaves a pine taste that you don’t want to end.

Aroma seems much weaker than I was expecting. Flavor is big hops, citrus and clean, bracing bitterness. Alcohol taste seems right up front, too, not at all hidden. The first 12 oz. was great, but everything here is so intense that it was not easy to finish the whole 22 oz. bomber.

Pours a very clear yellow amber. Smells great! The aromas are soft sweet malts and very present but not overwhelming American hops. The flavor is somewhat plain, but exceedingly well done. Soft malty sweetness balanced with very nice American hops. Finishes lightly bitter. The mouthfeel is great, I can really tell they adjust/filter their water with precision. Soft, round and clean. Overall, none of the attributes of this beer are utterly beautiful or arresting, but everything is done just right, and together this for me the standard of a great IPA