Stone Enjoy By 07.04.16 IPA

With the reputation that Stone has, I really expected them to be middle of the road (it's hard to live up to the hype) but I'll be damned if they don't produce some fine damn beers. I bought one that tells me not to drink it until it is ready, so it's sitting there waiting for time to pass. This one is the opposite - they want me to drink it as soon as I can, as it's ready and fresh. From my visits to taverns that brew their own beers, I have found that fresh beer is definitely the way to go most of the time.

The gold beverage has only the lightest of hazes. The white head leaves not a bubble on the side of the glass. Actually, I see some lacing now. Quite a bit of lacing, really. The aroma is grapefruit/citrus and pine over bread malt. It has a certain funk about it that can't be denied, and I used to think that funk was a bad thing, but some of the beers I've had recently had funk that changed my mind.

First sip is mostly citrus with a bread back-end. The funk is kind of hovering out there, and it isn't interfering with anything, but it's not actually contributing much. So, we are left with the citrus and bread and that is... actually pretty much exactly what you want in a beer like this, I think. I expected a beer with "more than 10" different hops to be a little overwhelming, but this is a very interesting blend. Let's see what the full swig brings...

Tip-in is mild carbonation burn with citrus and apples with undefined grains swirling under it all. The middle comes with a minimizing of the grapefruit and a surging orange. The grains turn to bread and a latent pine comes to join the party. The finish jumps aboard with the return of the grapefruit, some lemon, the bread, and some pine. Bitterness is shockingly minimal.

Bottom Line: A damn fine, complex beer that is great fresh.

4.0/5