Our President & Brewmaster Steve Wagner and Head Brewer Mitch Steele took a minute out of their cluttered schedules to sample their British-inspired hop monster: Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA, set for release on June 21st (for those who missed it, Mitch and Steve explained the concept behind this most unusual beer a few weeks back.) So here’s Mitch and Steve doing the difficult work of sampling beer in our gardens:
For those who prefer the analog version, here are Mitch’s tasting notes:
Appearance:
This beer pours golden with a creamy head of foam. It is very pale in color, with a slight haze.
Aroma:
The aroma is strongly hoppy, a blend of peaches, light citrus and earthy/herbal flavors. It’s a bit of a departure from the classic American citrusy and piney IPA hop profile, but it is unmistakably hoppy.
Taste:
Upon tasting, the classic pale malt character becomes apparent with a touch of sweetness and a light biscuity flavor, yet this beer remains incredibly hop focused. Resiny, fruit flavored hops dominate the palate upfront and through the middle. Yeast esters are blended into the flavor mix in the middle palate, and the beer finishes very bitter and dry, with just a tiny hint of sulfur.
Overall:
Our Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA may defy today’s expectations of a British inspired IPA. It’s not a ‘maltier’ IPA, and no crystal malts were used in the brewing of this beer. British brewers in the 1800’s made their IPA’s as light in color and as dry as possible, and that was our inspiration. And though we still like to encourage everyone to drink our IPA’s fresh, this one may be interesting to age. Especially on a 6 month long ocean voyage…”
