Over the xmas period, I managed to find somewhere in the UK that stocked Stone beers, so bought one each of the Session IPA, the standard IPA, and the Double IPA. So far I’ve consumed the Session and that standard IPA’s.
The Session IPA, I really liked, plenty of hop flavour and aroma, and thought they nailed the bitterness at the perfect level for my palate.
I tried the standard IPA the next day, expecting great things after the session had gone down so well. Got to say I was disappointed. There was little aroma in comparison, and was a little too bitter for my palate. It reminded me why I’d stopped drinking american IPA’s a couple of years ago.
I’m looking forward to trying the double IPA, as having read the brewery blurb on it, it sounds much closer to the session IPA, tastewise. I’ll report back with my opinions, once I’ve drunk it.
Once upon a time Stone IPA was the top dog according to some people. I’ve never had it fresh of the tap, I’ll bet it’s great. But bottled and shipped/stored who knows how, and especially who knows when… Probably not so amazing.
I heard Stone opened a brewery in Germany. No idea if that’s true. No idea where your sample was made or when.
It’s kind of like UK beers for me. I can find Samuel Smith on a non refrigerated shelf, and no idea how old. It’s not very good at all. I’ll bet they’re amazing at the brewery thouhh.
They were cans from the German brewery, and bought from a large supermarket, so probably not very old. Going to save the double IPA for the weekend, so I’ll report back then.
I like Ruination 2.0, too. Flavor and aroma are nice, and while bitterness is a tad higher than standard AIPA, it’s not at all out of line with a IIPA. It’s one of very few IIPAs I’ll buy (when fresh). Most are overly sweet and heavy for my tastes.
You can now find Stone @ Geers near Ghent (BE). Definitely from the German brewery. They even keep the cans in a dedicated fridge. I tried the regular IPA, which was kind of underwhelming (too bitter for my palate), but the double IPA was very nice.
I think Stone IPA is a good representation of an ‘old school’ west coast IPA. I like it but it is nothing special. I have not tried it since they reformulated it but I don’t think it is meant to be much different than it was.
I think the session IPA was one of the first examples I tried of the style. Tastes like hoppy water to me.
I dislike centennial hops which means I dislike a lot of Stone’s hoppy offerings. I’ve had a few of the reformulated beers and didn’t like them. Felt like they got the new recipes nailed down 90% and decided that was close enough.
I like Go-To and Stone’s locations in California do some pretty cool additions to the IPAs that I like.
I drank the Ruination last night. It was better than the standard IPA, but still a bit too bitter for me. Had a lot more hop aroma going on, which made it more interesting. The session IPA was definitely the winner for me, of the three.