It's no secret that my favorite brewery is Stone Brewing out of Escondido, California. The quality of the product, their attitude and their dedication to the craft beer community is all a draw for me. Hell, two things on my Growler List involve Stone Brewing.
Anyways, this year celebrates Stone's 14th Anniversary and they've released another anniversary beer to celebrate. This years brew is called Emperial IPA and is an English style IPA. Using all British ingredients but adding their own Stone touch they've really knocked this one out of the park in my opinion.
I would recommend that if you don't like hoppy beers perhaps stay away from this one. The hops they use create a very peppery hop flavor with an intensely bitter finish. Could be a bit overwhelming to those not used to it. I highly recommend you start your hops journey though because you are truly missing out. Start with Arrogant Bastard. My favorite beer with pizza.
Well I was lucky enough to grab a bottle of the 14th Anniversary and wanted to share my review with you guys. I warn you though. It is 100% biased as hell. I love these guys and in my opinion they can do no wrong. On to the review:
Brewery: Stone Brewing Company
Beer: 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA
Style: English IPA(possibly a double IPA?)
ABV: 8.9%
Available in Louisiana?: Yes but limited.
Appearance: This beer poured a golden yellow with a fluffy white head. Lacing is incredible and present throughout.
Smell: Hop overload. Very grassy with hints of pepper and lemon. The overwhelming hop aroma hides any evidence of malt.
Taste: POW. Once again the hops are very strong and overwhelming. I wouldn't call it an English IPA as it is listed on BA. The beer is clearly called Emperial IPA which suggests a very hoppy brew and this one delivers. Nice grassy hop flavor with hints of pepper and citrus as in the nose. Biscuity flavor allows me to taste the maltiness which was hiding in the aroma. That 8.9% abv doesn't hide at all. Very boozy beer. Definitely a sipper.
Mouthfeel: Medium body and medium carbonation.
Overall: Not sure why this beer gets a lot of bad reviews on other beer websites. It's a Stone Brewing IPA. It's supposed to be hoppy. It delivers. Very nice hoppy brew. Another solid beer from Stone Brewing!
Score:
4.5 out of 5 BuddhasCheers!
The Beer Buddha
5 comments:
Not a big fan. Would prefer my massively hoppy beers with American hops.
I thought this beer was so fragrant and floral in the nose and in the first second of the sip. Even disguised the bitterness of the hops temporarily! Was excellent on draft at The Avenue.
I was also lucky to get a bottle of this while on vacation in Asheville, NC. Like you, I'm a huge Stone fanboy, and I was not disappointed. Though hoppy, like all of Stone's offerings, it still had a good balanced flavor. I also appreciated the different flavors from the English ingredients. Certainly one I would buy again given the opportunity.
I was also lucky to get a bottle of this while on vacation in Asheville, NC. Like you, I'm a huge Stone fanboy, and I was not disappointed. Though hoppy, like all of Stone's offerings, it still had a good balanced flavor. I also appreciated the different flavors from the English ingredients. Certainly one I would buy again given the opportunity.
I am quite jealous that Stone is available in LA but not in MO. I would like to compare this one to Schlafly's Export IPA
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