This year both tangerine and pineapple are fresh and patriotic with the 2021 Enjoy By for the 4th of July from Stone Brewing.
Fresh Before the 4th
West Coast Poetry
Stone does not mess around with their double IPA’s. And they have a new “ode” to the classic West Coast style that they popularized in San Diego. Plus it will probably be in the 22oz format so it will be truly a nod to craft IPA past. A
Stone Adds Three
Xocoveza was thankfully spared the seltzer treatment, instead Stone Brewing is adding Tres Leches to the spicy stout mix for a limited time. The balance of the “hot” chocolate with the sweet of the addition should make for a swirl of flavors.
Your Whiskey is Arrogant
It kind and surprises me that Stone hadn’t licensed the Arrogant Bastard name to multiple spirits by now. A spicy whiskey or vodka probably would have been easy picks. But instead the have gone the whiskey route which I think is probably a better choice. Maybe a Dayfall Wit Gin is next?
Speaking of Witbier
If the previous post about Celis White got your taste buds to thinking about Witbier, well, you are in luck because Stone Brewing will be bringing their 2021 version to national distribution. And this one has an addition of bergamot, that puts the Earl in Earl Gray tea.
Featured Review – (Nuclear) Power Plant from El Segundo Brewing
It’s Meltdown time of year and due to obvious reasons, the trio of speciality beers from El Segundo Brewing moved to the can format, let’s dive into the capsule reviews of two of the three…
TIPA – Pours a bright vibrant yellow. This warms the cheeks real quick. Alcohol is right on the top of this TIPA but I also get cherry and grape notes filling the gaps in between. When it comes to big beers like this heaviness can wear down the drinker. Especially in a 16oz can format but the PP is still sprightly even at 11.1%.
QIPA – initial aroma and first sip is super close in profile with PP. I would say more grape notes emerge as well. Canned and drunk within 4 days. Has a good balance of boozy, hoppy and malt. Just a skosh spikier when you sip.
Back in Black
I need recent days, two fan favorite beers returned to distribution. First….
Stone Brewing stuck SS-R in its 12 Days of IPA’s box and then this year decidedly to re-release it all on its own. That was followed by…
…the label re-designed Wookey Jack from the SoCal Firestone.
How many more Black IPA’s do you think will cone back this year?
Review – Stone Delicious IPA vs F+B
Tucked inside the 12 Days of IPAs variety box from Stone Brewing was the new Features+Benefits “healthy IPA”, so today, let’s taste that vs their Gluten-reduced IPA, Delicious and see which comes out on top…
Delicious– nice fruit aroma and taste. Fruit punch comes to mind. Very crisp and bitey. Some pine in here as well.
F+B – Super light and bright yellow. Pretty watery. Has a big cat pee aroma to it. Has quite a bit of bitterness. Lemon notes as well.
This is a no brainer to me. Delicious wins by a country mile. It maybe gluten reduced but it tastes like a full bodied session IPA.
Distance Christmas Beer # 7 – Stone’s 12 Days of IPA’s
12 days of any style of beer is better than the Yuletide song. Even better is a style master like Stone giving a gift of hops in upside down mode. Just the right size for a post present party.
Featured
You can supply your own words to match up with the F and the B but for Stone it means Features and Benefits. In this case, the health conscious drinker. This new IPA is under 100 calories and finishes at a mere 4% ABV AND is gluten reduced as well.