Beertopia: Stone’s IPA

Stone IPA (Screen shot from http://youtu.be/-ZUX16lRi7g)

This column reviews a beer based on aroma, appearance, taste, and palate (mouthfeel). At the end of each review, we score the beer based on a five-star system (one star meaning you will likely regret ever drinking such a horrible concoction, five stars meaning it’s your new favorite beer, with two, three, and four stars falling somewhere in between).

Hey, Beertopia is back! I know you’ve missed it. Don’t fear though friends, even though I haven’t been writing about beer as much, I’ve still been drinking plenty of it as I’m sure you have as well.

And over that time, I’ve noticed that my taste preferences have been changing. Witbiers, hefeweizens, and most American pale ales kind of bore me these days. It takes a lot for those styles to make me not regret purchasing them. Although I’ve been enjoying more saisons and Belgian-style tripels, lately I’ve been on an IPA rampage. Yeah, I know, just like everyone else that drinks craft beer. But there was a time not too long ago when they were just too bitter for me, and now I’m making up for lost time, starting with Stone IPA.

You might be most familiar with Stone Brewing Co. for their “Arrogant Bastard” line of beers. While the name of the line is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, there was a time (and it still might be that time) where many in the industry thought it was a pretty accurate description for Stone’s founder, Greg Koch. Regardless of how you feel about him, Stone’s been a huge success and the quality of beer is the main reason why.

Stone IPA has a really pleasant citrusy aroma, but it’s the look for me that really makes this beer stand out. It has a really pure amber color, and it leaves some nice lacing as its consumed. The taste leaves no doubt that you’re drinking an IPA, with a bitter bite up front and notes of citrus and pine. At the very end, there’s a really subtle malt character that really gives it a great balance. A medium body and carbonation to go along with a dry finish make for easy drinking.

Overall, this is a quality IPA. There’s nothing spectacular about it, but it’s an excellent example of the style. When the aliens come and ask for an IPA, this might be the one to hand over. Unless you’re not into IPAs or have just grown tired of the style, you won’t regret drinking Stone IPA at all.

Little Utopia Rating: Four out of Five

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Charlie Crespo (@Little_Utopia) is the editor-in-chief of Little Utopia.