Stone India Pale Ale (IPA)

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

Nice fluffy white head. The beer is fairly orange in color. Nice ABV for a simple IPA. Fairly pungent hop aroma. Pine smelling hops. The beer is fairly transparent as well. Slightly creamy. The palate could be a bit better. The beer is full oh hop flavor. The dry hopping did pay off if you ask me. The bittering hop just gets all over the back of your mouth. I love this beer because the focus is all in the hops. Not really much to say about the malts. Overall, a damn good bitter/hoppy IPA that I would love to drink a lot. Stone makes some pretty good brews. I feel the Arrogant Bastard and this are good, but the others are not as good as people say they are.

Beautiful hop aroma, like lemons squeezed on freshly mown grass. Lovely bitterness and good malt backbone. Excellent.

Pours a clear brilliant orange with zero sediment. Medium head. Citrus hops with possibly the best finish on any IPA out there, at least any I have ever have ever tried. Beautifully, actually perfectly, blended IPA with just enough malt backbone to distinguish it from unnecessarily overhopped brews. I love this stuff. Glad it’s so easy to find. Bravo.

Aroma is sweet like honey and fresh like mountain air, although a little weak. Appearance is slightly opaque, with a hefe like quality and color. Flavor is nice and sweet at first, then artisticly shifts over to bitter hops with a drawn out transition that reaches quite aptly in either direction. Although I was disappointed a little bit with the quality of the bitter sensation, but that’s just me. Palate is fairly wet, but not thin or watery with plenty of carbonation and a tingling on the back of the throat. Overall a great IPA but not quite my favorite.

Pours a clear orange with a frothy white head. Aromas of citrus, hops, and malt. Has a bitterness complemented by a slightly sweet, malty taste and a touch of grapefruit

Bottle. Pours a clear orange color with a small off white head. Aroma of cascade hops, caramel malt and grapefruit. Taste is hoppy and semi sweet. Another west coast hop monster but I do have to say that this one is relatively balanced though.

In short: A well-balanced highly drinkable IPA focusing on citrusy and resinous elements.
How: Bottle + tap many times. This rating for a fresh 12oz bottle consumed a few days after purchase. Drank side-by-side with the Stone Ruination IPA just for the fun of it
The look: Clear dark golden body topped by an initially large off-white head with medium retention and leaving excellent lacings
In long: Nose of citrus fruits with light pine-needles juicy notes. More citrusy than the Ruination. Taste proposes sweet maltiness with a 1/3 honey and 2/3 caramel flavour. Finish is citrusy with resinous elements and the bitterness is not overwhelming like in the Stone Ruination IPA. Some inherent spiciness in the hops reminding me of the Stone Pale Ale. I’m actually pretty sure the hopping of the Stone IPA has a lot in common with that of the Stone Pale Ale This one is not as intense, as bitter or as dry as the Stone Ruination IPA but it really is better balanced. Funny thing is despite all this I slightly prefer the totally unbalanced Ruination IPA. IPAs are not girlfriends, being well balanced is not mandatory.

Bottle from Lithy, thanks! Orange blonde color. Malty perfumed grapefruit aroma with pineapple. Sweet but oily hopbitter, perfumed flavor. Mint, grapefruit and pineapple. The perfume spoils the fun a bit, this would have been a great beer otherwise.