As a lukewarm fan of Stone Pale Ale, I was looking forward to the new version, assuming it would be hoppier, drier, and maybe lighter in color/abv. I was wrong on all counts. Anyway, here’s how it would go down if I was judging this one in a homebrew comp.
Poured from bottle
Aroma - mild orange and grassy hops, sweet malt, lightly fruity (from hops or yeast) 5
Appearance - Deep gold/light amber, clear, thin head 3
Flavor - Biscuit and sweet malt upfront, then excessive bitterness. Not very hoppy, but there is a distracting slight orange and herbal hoppy quality reminiscent of orange juice from concentrate. Maltier and less aromatic than 1.0 and simultaneously too bitter and too sweet without striking a balance between the two. 6
Mouthfeel - Medium to full body, nice carbonation. A bit big for the style. 3
Overall impression - This doesn’t taste like a more modern or updated pale ale, but like an amateurish attempt at showcasing Mandarina Bavaria. Fermentation character seems clean enough, but otherwise this beer is unbalanced. I suspect the malt base would make for a pleasant beer if it were much less bitter, but the bitterness combined with low hop aroma makes this very fresh bottle taste like it has spent the past two years in the back of the refrigerator. 4
Score: 21/50
This as a replacement for the overpriced-but-delicious Stone Pale Ale 1.0 is very disappointing. Yuck.
As a huge Stone fan, I also gave it a try. Thanks for so specifically stating what I felt. My description of "I didn’t like it "
Was about all I could put my finger on
Had it at the Stone store in Oceanside. I liked it well enough, could have used more aroma, less bitterness. Then again I really like the Mandarina Bavaria.
It’s puzzling to me. Like skylar, I’m not a particularly big fan of Stone’s brews (and speaking for myself, don’t really understand the hype surrounding the brewery) but I will say that they had a reasonably decent product with their Pale Ale…so I do have to wonder what compelled them to change it. Has an official explanation ever been offered?
When ever I see an established product touting the words “improved”, the vast majority of the time it turns out to be anything but. More often than not the words “new and improved” could more accurately be characterized as a consumer warning.
The old saying is, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fixit”.
I guess they thought that their Pale Ale was 'broke". :
I guess I’m the odd one out, I quite enjoyed this beer. I like bitter beers, but at the same time hop monsters can bore me. This beer was nicely bitter, and pleasantly hoppy. Way less sweet/crystal malty than the old one, to me anyway.
I have been wanting to try this and Ruination 2.0 since they were released. Stone is a hit and miss kind of brewery for me but I do like most of their hoppy stuff. I do appreciate the fact that they are willing to move on from any outdated flagships and wish other big breweries would follow suit (I am looking at you Fat Tire)…
I had a couple pints of their Delicious IPA when in S.D. for NHC. It was such a nice beer that I ordered Lemon Drop and Eldorado hops when I got home. Can’t wait to try to make this.
