I had a comparative tasting with one of my friends who isn’t used to craft beer of the Stone Pale Ale vs the Stone IPA, the bottles were from Antenna America. I would have thought the IPA would have been darker but it is a deep gold while the pale ale is an orange copperish hue. The aroma is biscuit with herbal & floral hoppy notes while the IPA has more of a citrus & tropical fruit aroma. Taste wise the pale ale has a simple clean bitter lemon profile with a solid malt backbone. The flavor of the IPA is more complex with different fruits popping through lemon, lime, grapefruit, peach & maybe pine in the aftertaste. The malts are hardly in evidence but it is a solid IPA. One thing to be said is both of these beers were best before the end of November-still damn tasty though. Once they warmed up the IPA became more cohesive with pine notes coming through, meanwhile the pale ale got mellow with more caramel nicely counterbalancing the citrusy hops & making the beer appear less acidic. Definitely a more put together flavor profile once they warm up, strangely enough the beers we liked best changed based on serving temperature. Cold from the fridge the pale ale won out but at a higher temperature the IPA was our preferred drink.

Bottle from Bier Huis, Ossett. Had this straight from the fridge. My mistake. All the aroma and taste came through once it had got nearer room temperature. Nice beer.

330ml bottle. Pours a clear copper amber colour, off-white foam head leaving alittle lacing and aroma of malt & hoppy pine resin. Taste is sweetish malt caramel with some grapefruit citrus and pine hop bitterness. Smooth mouth feel, light to medium bodied, medium carbonation, dry lingering bitter finish. Good balance, quite drinkable APA.

Probably less than fresh but not among the better pale ales. Very light on palate. Pours dark orange-maroon with very good lacing and head. Aroma predominantly of malt with light hops. Finishes a little bitter. Bottle.

12 oz. bottle. Dark copper pour, with a big, beige head and good lacing. Looks like a beer ought to look. Aroma of toast, caramel, pine and resin. Very bitter flavor, with a good malt backbone. Medium body, lightly chalky, and astringent. Overall, this is a malty, aggressively hopped pale ale. Great flavor and perfect appearance. Very nice.

Bottle 0.335l at Bar Molotow, Helsinki. Colour is deep orange with small white head. Aromas and flavours: Fruits, citrus, hops and malts.

Pours copper with a frothy tan head. Aroma is malt, hops, nuts. Taste is nicely done mild bitter. Almost creamy..smooth. Very good.

Bottle. Caramel malt and orange hops aroma. Hazy light amber with a moderate yellowed ivory head. Caramel, charred toast, astringent citrus peel and herbal hops flavor. Medium body, soft carbonation.