Stone India Pale Ale (IPA)

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

Bright amber-orange with a thin gold tinged head. Aroma is hoppy with ciyrus and pine notes. Flavor of sweet and bitter hops, with a mildly hoppy finish.

Re-rate - Expected more hops? What was I thinking? This is perfectly hopped. Huge floral hop nose. Intense flavor, with the perfect malt to hop balance. A great IPA, though slightly inferior to the Ruination. Original, 3.9 - Nice color and lacing. Decent aroma of hops and sweetness. I really expected more hops in the flavor, but it is creamy and mildly sweet, which I find enjoyable. This is a prett good IPA, but 90 Minute and Hop Devil are better. Thanks Racegoer!

Bottle from Virginia. The aroma is fantastic with tons of hops and sweet caramel malt. The appearance is deep gold with a foamy head. The flavor is very bitter with plenty of sweet malt to balance. The palate is smooth. A very good IPA.

(Bottle, Akkurat, Stockholm, 13 April 2007) Amber colour with a short off-white head. Seriously hoppy nose with notes of pine needles, resin and citrus peel. Fruity, very hoppy, taste with pine needles, resin and notes of grapefruit (more in the background of needles and resin). Fairly dry. Great hop character, but still the brew is in perfect balance, since the hops aren’t as aggressive and persistent as they can be in some IPA’s. Lovely beer.

Tasted during trip to california. 65 cl Bottle. No yeast in bottom. Very pleasant fruit aroma. Golden too light amer colour with a lance head. Very extreme hoppy flavour but not so bitter than you may expected, but sill dry. A very tasteful IPA.

(12 oz bottle; 22-Nov-04) An excellent IPA with a sweet, bready maltiness and a balancing, moderately strong, fresh hops flavor. But I wouldn’t say this IPA is dominated by hopped by any means, and that’s fine with me because I typically prefer a more balanced IPA. Once the sweet breadiness wears off a bit, the hops bitterness is moderately strong and extends the finish considerably, but again, it’s not as bitter as the description would lead you to believe -- I’ve had many IPAs that were much more bitter. It has a malty and very bready nose, but also some mild hoppiness. In fact, if you’ve ever been to the Stone brewery and reveled in the glorious aroma, this IPA smells just like that! Medium bodied, but the mouthfeel is quite full and substantial. Medium golden color, somewhat cloudy. Whitish head has good size on the pour, but settles to a thin sheen, leaving modest lacing. Very well done indeed!<hr>Rerate (12 oz bottle: Hi-Time Wine Cellars; 01-Feb-05 and again on 17-Mar-05) I’m doing a separate review for this bottle since it’s apparent to me that my previous rating was for a bottle that probably sat around for a bit. I just purchased this bottle by mistake, but I wish all mistakes were this fortuitous because this must be a very fresh bottle, and it has inspired me to do a second complete rating. Whereas the bready maltiness showed quite a bit of presence in the previous bottle, here, we have an all out hops assault on the taste buds and nostrils. In fact, I’m not getting any breadiness anywhere. The nose is very hoppy with a moderate, sweet citrus aroma in the background. The flavor is very hoppy, very bitter, moderately citrusy with a mildly sweet and fruity base for balance. This beer is dark golden in color and completely clear, not one iota of haziness, unlike the bottle in my previous rating. The off-white head pours to almost a full inch in height and maintains a thin layer for the entire session, leaving numerous streamers of lace drooping all over the glass. For a standard IPA, this is superb. And proof that freshness matters with IPAs.

Pours hazy golden orange color with white head. Strong citrusey and hoppy aroma. Very citrusey flavor with intense suggestions of lemony dryness. Nice quality hop flavor with a dry lingering finish.

My first Stone's and without a doubt, the best AIPA that I've had. A very mature, hoppy, candied-yam aroma. Beautiful bottle, painted label, apricot-colored beer. Hop and pepper character, followed by a fruity sweetness. West coast hops are my least favorite, but this was obviously done with a lot of attention and craftsmanship -- without being ham-handed last minute dry-hopping. Long, sawing hop finish, which fights with the sides of your tongue. A man's beer.