Stone Pale Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Pale Ale
Escondido, California USA

One of the best APA’s I have. In fact my first APA. This is what got me started on Pale Ales in the first place come to think of it. Awesome beer from an awesome brewery.

Pours a hazy reddish orange. Aroma of malt, hops, grasses. Flavour is of a fulled bodied pale ale, clean and refreshing beer. Malts, hops prevail in a well balanced beer. Another fine product from Stone.

12 oz bottle. Pours hazy reddish orange with small ivory head. The aroma is sticky piney hops with some melon and raisin. The flavor is kind of cedary at first, then takes on an interesting disembodied bitterness. Some slight sugar and caramel notes float around there, too. The finish is surprisingly dry for what the body is. Refreshing.

Bottle - A very nice pale ale. We have to buy this one at a specialty store here, but it is worth it.

Cold 12oz bottle: Pours a clear medium burnt orange color with a moderate, persistent off-white fluffy then creamy head with some nice lacing. Aroma is of rich malts, caramel, fruits, grass and light flowers. Taste is of rich malts, fruit and spice. Medium bodied and crisp with good carbonation. Ending is of floral hops with sweet malty notes.

cloudy amber color with a good white head....light citrus hop aroma with some malts...not as bitter as I expected ... smooth drinking .... not up to par with the other stone brews, but very good

I’m a big Stone fan like many posters on this board, but I’m probably going against the grain when I say that I think this is one of their best. No, this one’s not over the top in the hops dept. like their famous IPAs, and I think it might almost be misclassified as an American pale ale as well. What it is, is an exceptionally well balanced pale/amber ale, with no overwhelmingly pronounced single characteristic. Its actually what I expect every ’Oktoberfest beer to be, only to be so quickly dissappointed once the first cap comes off. This is an EXCEPTIONAL beer, whether or not it’s true to the American pale ale style or imagined Stone standard for hoppiness or not. I love it!

I’m generally a big fan of Stone Brewing, but this one just didn’t measure up to what I expect from them. Poured a dark orange. Moderately hopped nose. Flavor was hops,mild for an APA, with a tough of smokiness in the finish. A good beer, but it lacked in terms of depth and character.