Hello once again good craft beer people.  For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be drinking a Stone IPA produced by the Stone Brewing Company located in Escondido, California.

No need for any kind of introduction to Stone.  We all know that they produce great beers.

From the website, stonebrew.com, we find this description of the IPA.

An “India Pale Ale” by definition is highly hopped and high in alcohol – you’ll find our Stone India Pale Ale to be true to style with a huge hop aroma, flavor and bitterness throughout. If you’re a hop-head like us, then you’ll love our Stone India Pale Ale! Medium malt character with a heavy dose of over the top hops! Generous “dry hopping” gives this beer its abundant hop aroma and crisp hop flavor. 

Let’s sip.

This brew has an ABV of 6.9% and it comes in a 22 oz. bottle.

It poured an orange to almost golden/orange color with a certain haze to it.  The head had suitable bulkiness, was very fluffy, frothy, rocky, soft and billowy.  The retention time was quite adequate and the lacing looked real good.  A skim of film was left on top of the liquid for the duration of the drink.  This brew looked real nice in the tulip glass to say the least.

The nose presented a fresh and lively punch of grapefruit citrus.  Compliments of biscuits added some maltiness.  Hints of pine and flowers gave a bit more complexity.  Maybe just the most minute bit of caramel, but not much at all really.  The bouquet was super well balanced, proper, straight forward and just down right good!!!

The taste and the aroma were nearly identical.  Fresh, bitter, hoppy grapefruit citrus melded with savors of baked biscuits and light touches of caramel malt.  Some resinous qualities intermingled with flavors of pine and grass.  The bitterness was spot on and the balance was superb.  Truth be told, after a little while, all I got was the very tasty grapefruit citrus.  The other flavors only served as complimentary features.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied.  Smooth, mostly dry, sticky and somewhat chewy.  Medium strength carbonation.  More than enough flavor was left behind for me to enjoy in between sips also.

Man!!!  This beer is very, very good.  I haven’t had it in so long.  This is a beverage that I take for granted and one that I need to revisit more often than I do.  It’s a near perfect example for the style.  The drinkability is killer as well.  I was literally taking huge gulps without ever becoming fazed.  The whole bomber was gone before I even knew what was going on.  I’ll say that if you guys have never had the Stone IPA or if you have not picked a bottle up in awhile….. do so.  It remains a staple in the craft beer world.

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone.  I really appreciate it.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  4.4 out of 5
Grade:  A