Another beer style I want to brew this year is an IPA. Having a black IPA and an IPA on tap is something I'd like to do. I just need to find friends to help me drink beer. Also I need tax season to be over so that I have time to brew. In the lead up to eventually brewing an IPA I wanted to sample some of the freshest and newest IPAs I could find. Enter the devastatingly dank Enjoy By 4.20.14 IPA by Stone Brewing company. This beer was bottled 17 days before I'm drinking it. Wow. Stone sure does take their product seriously.
This IPA weighs in at 9.4% ABV. Per a variety of webpages this is a mosaic of hops(not to be confused with mosaic hops) Bertus Brewery identified Citra, Cascade, Centennial, Nelson Sauvon, Galaxy, Target & Simcoe are all included. The Full Pint reports it as 13 varieties in a unique blend. They Tag it with probably some insider information as having Ahtanum, Super Galena, Simcoe, Delta, Target, Amarillo, Calypso, Cascade, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Citra and Helga. So I'll have my work ahead of me if I want to draw out what I like about this beer.
(please read more after the break.)
So I opened the bottle and it was world class.
Appearance: It's an IPA! It's crystal clear with a billowing white active head.
Aroma: It's Hoppy! Wet, dank, hops exploded from the glass. It's a hop bonanza. Rather than focusing on one type of hop or a particular pine, citrus, resin, etc. etc. aroma they went with every aroma! Smells great!
Flavor: It's Hoppy! It starts out hoppy, and finishes hoppy and dry. Within each sip you for vegetable hoppy flavors. You could taste the crispness and the raw amount of hop is impressive. This beer is agressively bitter which contributed to the dry finishes. Under the bitter, vegetable, floral hops is a nice malt flavor with a crisp pale maltiness.
Mouthfeel: Dry like an IPA aught be. The bittnerness contributes to a lasting finish despite being smooth and dry. Remarkable.
Impressions: HOPPY? Yes, but like an good ipa there was more too it than just being bitter. The hopping techniques are really on full display giving you a veg/floral/dank flavor/aroma/bitterness. It's a great IPA.
I've been to stone, I've had Enjoy By fresh from the tap. The bottle hurts it not, but in one aspect. I'm not going to sit on my couch playing video games drinking a 22 of ~10% DIPA. Pouring an IPA changes it because it releases the aroma, which is what you smell after the pour without even leaning in. This is why Heady extols the virtues of drinking it from the can. I'd bottle this in 4 packs. Other than that: World Class.
For my IPA I am going to stick to between 3-6 hops in a single or duo of areas. Stone might be able to pull off everything at once but I won't be. I want to highlight Citrus or Pine or Floral not HOPS. See my recipe soon!
I've been to stone, I've had Enjoy By fresh from the tap. The bottle hurts it not, but in one aspect. I'm not going to sit on my couch playing video games drinking a 22 of ~10% DIPA. Pouring an IPA changes it because it releases the aroma, which is what you smell after the pour without even leaning in. This is why Heady extols the virtues of drinking it from the can. I'd bottle this in 4 packs. Other than that: World Class.
For my IPA I am going to stick to between 3-6 hops in a single or duo of areas. Stone might be able to pull off everything at once but I won't be. I want to highlight Citrus or Pine or Floral not HOPS. See my recipe soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment