Beer of the Week … Stone IPA

What better way to start a blog off than with a proposed weekly segment about beer?

Let’s review a beer, shall we?

The beer this week just happens to be whatever I had in my fridge at the exact moment that I decided to enter the blogging world. That beer? Stone IPA!

So, a few things to start us off. First, Stone Brewing Company is located in Escondido, California. They are known for making big, bold beers that are not for the faint of heart. Lots of hops and huge malty goodness are halmarks of Stone beers. Some other beers of theirs worth trying include Arrogant Bastard Ale (both oaked and regular) and Ruination IPA (an imperial style IPA, more on this later). Today, however, we will be looking at their standard IPA. What is an IPA? It stands for India Pale Ale. Ales are top fermenting beers that require a warmer fermentation temperature than their counterpart, the lager. An IPA is named as such because of the preservative properties that the all important hop provides. You see, when the English empire colonized India the colonists living in the land of the Ganga River couldn’t be without their beer. However, beer that traveled over such a long way would inevitably spoil. Ratchet up the hops during brewing and low and behold, the beer would last for some time longer, certainly all the way to India. The result is a beer that is much more bitter and aromatic than most ales of similar malt profiles.

Now, on to the Stone IPA. I really like the IPA style. The hop character is surprisingly refreshing in the summer months and contrastingly warming in the winter ones. The citrus profile of most hops, such as Amarillo, Centennial, and Warrior, please both the nose and the palette. The Stone IPA tends towards the bitter end of the flavor profile and has a unique, almost smoky nose. At 77 IBU’s (International Bittering Units, a measure of hoppiness) the Stone IPA is on the higher end of the spectrum. It has a lot of both Centennial and Magnum hops and this comes through in both the aroma and the taste on the palate.

I like this beer and will buy it again. However, there are other IPA’s that I would buy first. A brief look at Ratebeer.com shows a few other IPA’s that are ranked at or above Stone’s. This includes Bell’s Two Hearted Ale and Dark Star Six Hop. I have had and love the Bell’s but am still looking for the Dark Star.

More to come on other styles, brewers (both domestic and international), and organic techniques. Requests are welcome!