Stone Levitation Ale

bottle, at Lily’s NY courtesy of Dennis Flynn. golden copper color, slightly ruddy. off-white foamy head. malty & sweaty hop aroma, fresh grapefruit rind. flavor is dry & clean pale malt, and light dry hop bitterness. crisp dry graperuit rind/pith finish.

Pretty hoppy for an Amber. Flavor is crisp with a nice malt presence. Nicely carbonated and a clean finish. Great low ABV session.

PVC aroma. Amber with off-white little head. Flavour is PVC with slight maltiness cutting through. Thinnish body. Finishes with hoppy bitterness. Not to my taste.

Bottle. Amber coloured with thin off white head. Not much flavour filtering through my rubbish nose. Flavour does the job though. Caramel, little fruity flavour, nice dry hoppy finish. Very drinkable, good session beer.

My main impression from this was tea leaves. Kind of like a light version of Three Floyds Alpha King. Amazing flavor for an ABV of only 4.4%. It would be a fantastic session beer, yet flavorful enough to satiate in a 12 ounce dose.

12 oz bottle. Nice amber color and head. Citrus hop in the aroma and taste, with a maltier backbone than I expected, but I was told this was an APA rather than an Amber. Lightest beer I’ve had from Stone, but yet another winner.

THOUGHTS: I couldn’t believe Stone made a session ale. It was a little watery for something as hoppy as it was. With all the hops I don’t know how long of a session it could be for me. Overall it was a lot of flavor for a low alcohol beer. The hop aroma was nice, but the hop flavor was a little weak. The bitterness on the other hand was high. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, dark brownish amber with an average to large, off-white head that kept a thick sheet and left good to excellent lacing. The aroma was moderate grain, toasted and nutty malts caramel and toffee, and moderate pine citrus, lemony hops along with slightly less herbal hops. The initial flavor was sweet, bitter and acidic; while the finish was bitter and acidic with a fairly long duration. There was caramel, toasted malt, tea, lemony citrus hops, pine and a little bitter hops. The light to medium body was fairly dry with fairly soft carbonation and a metallic and slightly chalky finish.

Pours a really deep amber color, topped with an active head that fades fairly quickly. Not a lot of lace. Flat, faintly metallic aroma is not incredibly inviting. Very dry, hoppy flavor for an amber, and not much of a finish.