15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA - Stone Brewing Co.

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BA SCORE
94
exceptional
-
1,328 Ratings

rAvg: 4.23
pDev: 12.77%
Reviews: 705
Hads: 623

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Stone Brewing Co.

California, United States

Style | ABV
American Black Ale | 10.80% ABV

Availability: Limited (brewed once). bottle (620), on-tap (76), growler (8), cask (1).

Notes:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

No notes at this time.

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Reviews

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Reviews by lazjuarez:

lazjuarez

Florida

4.03/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle into a goblet. Bottle conditioned, bottle dated August 2011.

A: Pours a dark brown almost black in color. No light is coming through at all. 2 fingers worth of a foamy mocha colored head that sticks around, due to the bottle conditioning, I presume. Some nice lacing is evident as well as nice alcohol legs. Amazing looking beer.

S: Nose is unmistakably of a typical west coast IPA. Upfront is a big astringency note, then Big ripe grapefruit notes, some citrus, and ripe peach notes. In the background is a small note of toffee, but is all tied together by a touch of alcohol.

T: Taste is bitter, drying, but not overwhelming. Middle of the tongue starts to shift as the alcohol cleanses the palate, then finishes by a nice touch of balancing malts. The finish is of toasty malts, toffee, and a faint note of caramel.

M: Great mouth feel. Medium bodied, alcohol does it's job as a cleanser as it moves and revives the palate once it's been bombarded by hoppy bitterness. Great coating of the mouth and tongue, as mentioned before, the alcohol cleanses this to the effect of preparing your taste buds for more. A bit boozy, but at 10.8% ABV its barely noticeable. Overall a great Black IPA with great body and good balance.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2011 07:21:40 | More by lazjuarez

More User Reviews:

beernads

Florida

3.75/5 rDev -11.3%

05-18-2013 06:39:49 | More by beernads

OC_Beer_Fan

California

4/5 rDev -5.4%

05-17-2013 05:22:10 | More by OC_Beer_Fan

Zbeetleman

California

4.5/5 rDev +6.4%

05-15-2013 03:05:13 | More by Zbeetleman

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4/5 rDev -5.4%

05-13-2013 22:24:50 | More by mikeincharleston

csfcmitchell

Texas

4.25/5 rDev +0.5%

05-13-2013 15:54:17 | More by csfcmitchell

Whiskeydeez

Kansas

4.25/5 rDev +0.5%

05-08-2013 17:19:02 | More by Whiskeydeez

cadaugherty

Illinois

4/5 rDev -5.4%

05-07-2013 23:01:09 | More by cadaugherty

Tom-Peters

California

4.5/5 rDev +6.4%

05-06-2013 19:43:12 | More by Tom-Peters

campfirebrew

New York

4/5 rDev -5.4%

04-04-2013 14:53:21 | More by campfirebrew

Obsidian

California

2.75/5 rDev -35%

04-03-2013 03:18:40 | More by Obsidian

Smurf2055

Washington

3.68/5 rDev -13%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Reviewed Dec 2011

Poured from bottle into a pint glass.

Pours like a stout, with a nice tan head about a finger thick. Good lacing.

It’s got some coffee and licorice, but the pine and hops smell as well. Maybe a bit of caramel. An interesting mix.

Taste really confused me. It’s a light body, very smokey, almost ashy. Greets you with light coffee and finishes with a hop kick near the end. I couldn’t tell it was over 10%. Very powerful. Leaves a nice aftertaste.

Overall, it’s a very interesting beer to say the least. Very complex and very bold. Impressive.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2013 20:11:28 | More by Smurf2055