16th Anniversary IPA - Stone Brewing Co.

Dope

Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Fresh bottle, dated August 2012.

A: Pours a clear orange-red with a big fluffy tan head. Fades slowly, leaving substantial lacing everywhere with a big island of foam that never seems to go away.

S: Wonderful tropical fruit aroma. Pineapple, mango, with some lemon and apricot perhaps? A bit of grapefruit and even a little pine. Lots of very sweet caramel.

T: Huge hop flavor up front. Again, lots of grapefruit, pineapple, mango, lemons, pine and even resin. Very bitter. The middle smooths out a bit with some caramel. Just the slightest hint of rye but it's probably the power of suggestion more than anything. A little bitter lemon and resin in the aftertaste.

M: Not as heavy as you'd expect given the ABV and only a little drying despite all the hops.

O: A bit unbalanced, this one is pretty much a huge variety of hops without much malt to balance it. Not far from Ruination really, with many a little extra complexity and ABV. I enjoyed it though, it was quite tasty. Not nearly as bitter as you'd expect given all the hop flavors either. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2012 03:23:31 | More by Dope

jono0101

Missouri

4.75/5  rDev +24.3%

05-18-2013 16:19:58 | More by jono0101

beernads

Florida

3.5/5  rDev -8.4%

05-18-2013 06:40:01 | More by beernads

mkirkland80

Virginia

3/5  rDev -21.5%

05-18-2013 02:28:18 | More by mkirkland80

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

4.29/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottle: Poured a slight hazy amber color ale with a large foamy head with great retention and some good lacing. Aroma consists of citrus floral hoppy notes with some good notes of lemon. Taste is dominated by citrus and resinous hops notes with clear lemon notes without any tart flavours. Fruity notes from the Amarillo with light residual sugar form the malt backbone bring out a good balanced mix overall. Body was quite full with great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Very good and one beer that Stone should keep producing as a regular instead on an Anniversary one.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 19:06:34 | More by Phyl21ca

HinghamRick

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -1.8%

05-17-2013 15:13:23 | More by HinghamRick

twenty5

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +4.7%

05-17-2013 15:09:42 | More by twenty5

OC_Beer_Fan

California

3.5/5  rDev -8.4%

05-17-2013 05:20:53 | More by OC_Beer_Fan

lucasj82

Indiana

3.75/5  rDev -1.8%

05-15-2013 02:07:47 | More by lucasj82

drummermattie02

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -8.4%

05-14-2013 18:19:44 | More by drummermattie02

Absolut

California

3.5/5  rDev -8.4%

05-14-2013 17:47:35 | More by Absolut

richkrull

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +4.7%

05-14-2013 17:38:51 | More by richkrull

Jadjunk

Georgia

3.45/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

"This year our brewing team was inspired by some exotic-ish additions of the lemony persuasion. Yes, it's a Double IPA (can you really say you're surprised?), but as we strive to do with all our Stone Anniversary Ales of the let's-take-this-IPA-in-a-new-direction variety, we've brewed up a Stone-worthy divergence from tradition. The amount of rye malt we used isn't quite enough to warrant the appellation "Rye IPA," but it still adds hints of spiciness that contrast deliciously with the tropical fruit flavors and aromas of the Amarillo and Calypso hops. Add a few European specialty malts, some lemon verbena, and three more hop varieties to the mix, and you have a highly complex brew melding both bitter and fruity hop notes with rich toasted malt character punctuated by nuances of spicy rye and subtle lemon." Brewed in the style of an American Double IPA. Brewed as a one time anniversary release in August 2012. Drink fresh? Whoops.

Poured from a 22 oz. bomber to a snifter glass. Served north of 50º Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Pours a copper cream-tone head of a crisp frothy consistency. Body color is a bold orange amber with high clarity aside from minute specks of sediment. Carbonation in this beer is almost nonexistent, but little relaxed bubbles inform me that it hasn't gone flat. Retention is average- the head settles quicker than expected for one of Stone's brews, but the surface cover is frothy and the lacing is thin and streaked. A decent appearance. 3.5

(Smell) Faint traces of verbena, a sprig of lemongrass, a mild grassy hop note and a sweet, clean pale malt base make for a straight forward aroma. Potency is very low, and warming does little to reveal the aroma better. This is surprisingly tepid for a DIPA on almost all accounts of malt and hop brilliance. What's here isn't offensive or out of balance, but it may leave a lot to be desired. 3.25

(Taste) Light tea-like pale malt body, lemongrass, mellow citrus and aggressive piney, mildly spicy hop bitterness with a lingering dry, resinous finish. The malt diversity and flavor is straight-up simple- just shy of absent, with the combined efforts of the hop bitterness and the lemongrass leading the flavor almost entirely. It goes for mild in flavor despite a strong bitter front, even though I would have suggested a slightly bolder malt profile to pair, the drinkability is high and the beer is simple, yet refreshing and bitter in that Stone-grade of expected bitterness intensity. It's not my favorite of the Stone Anniversary Ale series, but it's not too shabby for what it had going in. Probably not a winning recipe for many, but those who want a DIPA that drinks light yet packs a bitter punch (and alcohol boost), this may be your dead ringer. For the rest, you may find this a rather weak and unbalanced brew. 3.5

(Mouthfeel) Slickness is moderate, and carbonation is mildly airy. Balance is medium/sharp in regards to bitter over sweet. Body is light+ for the style and medium amongst all beer. A sneaky alcohol presence is medium/high, difficult to conceal behind the simplicity of the malts or lemongrass. It's especially well presented amongst the hop bitterness. The carbonation is decent in regards to exposing the simplicity of the recipe, but the malt body would be more enjoyable if it were a touch sweeter or more complex to better balance the beer out. 3.5

(Overall) I appreciated the simplicity of this beer, and the ingredients used to go with it, as few of them are used regularly in Double IPAs, let alone standard IPAs. The lemongrass led a subtle lemony character and paired with grassy and faint citrus hops, it starts light and drinkable, but ends in typical stone IPA fashion with an intense bitterness, seemingly magnified in intensity by the subtle qualities of the other ingredients. I didn't find the verbena all that well utilized in the flavor and also may have found the alcohol a bit unnecessarily high for this beer altogether. The malt base suggested a tea-like thinness and drinkability for the character- did it really need to be 10% with all the simplicity and drinkability enhanced? Not everybody is going to enjoy this DIPA, but only if you come up to the plate with the expectation that all DIPAs are bold, flavorful and exciting, only then may you be disappointed. Aside from the ABV, I'd sooner classify this a standard IPA. 3.5

Stone Brewing Co.'s
Stone 16th Anniversary IPA
3.45/5.00

Serving type: on-tap

05-14-2013 01:27:30 | More by Jadjunk

csfcmitchell

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -8.4%

05-13-2013 15:47:32 | More by csfcmitchell

mikeburd1128

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +4.7%

05-12-2013 17:53:19 | More by mikeburd1128

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -1.8%

05-11-2013 17:54:29 | More by mikeincharleston

Gamblor14

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -21.5%

05-11-2013 01:57:47 | More by Gamblor14

Artjsantos

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -8.4%

05-10-2013 17:52:07 | More by Artjsantos

ajtorres311

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -1.8%

05-10-2013 16:54:33 | More by ajtorres311

jacewg

District of Columbia

3.75/5  rDev -1.8%

05-10-2013 03:40:19 | More by jacewg

krisbee

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +4.7%

05-10-2013 03:02:59 | More by krisbee

cadaugherty

Illinois

4/5  rDev +4.7%

05-07-2013 22:49:14 | More by cadaugherty

ambalam

California

4.5/5  rDev +17.8%

05-06-2013 04:10:26 | More by ambalam

DeanMoriarty

California

4.25/5  rDev +11.3%

05-06-2013 00:52:29 | More by DeanMoriarty

gr0g

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -21.5%

05-05-2013 19:18:40 | More by gr0g