Stone Brewing Collective Distortion IPA

Collective Distortion IPA

 

Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸

  IPA - Imperial / Double Special Out of Production
Score
7.12
ABV: 9.3% IBU: 90 Ticks: 46
India Pale Ale Brewed with Elderberries & Coriander

Collaborators: Kyle Hollingsworth, Homebrewer & Keyboardist for The String Cheese Incident / Keri Kelli, Rocker & Publican / Mitch Steele, Brewmaster, Stone Brewing Co.

We all enjoy turning things up to 11, and that is represented in this collaborative offering, an imperial India pale ale ably backed by Nugget, Comet and Calypso hops and amplified care of a healthy dry-hopping with Australian hop Vic Secret, adding citrus and tropical fruit oomph. To give this modern masterpiece some soulful, classic character, we traced the roots of brewing to the days when Old World herbs were used to spice beers and added coriander and elderberries. To stand up to that sumptuous spice and blaring bitterness, we included golden naked oats, which are lightly roasted and bring body and enhanced mouthfeel to the beer like a steady, unbreakable backbeat to an incendiary solo.

Developing this beer with two professional musicians from such different backgrounds was a fun and unique experience. Besides loving to play music, the three of us also share a common love for craft beer, so we were all excited to combine music and brewing. The jam sessions with Team Stone after each brew day were awesome, and it was an honor to share the “stage” with Kyle and Keri. The historic throwback of using elderberries to spice the beer, in addition to hops, was an interesting choice and makes this beer distinct and unique.
 

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7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Bottled from deciccos. Pours a clear amber white foam. Fruity aroma. Citrus, grapefruit, resin. Can’t really taste the elderberry. A good strong ipa

Tried from Bottle on 20 May 2025 at 01:30


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

7-13-2014 bomber Highlands

Tried on 05 Dec 2019 at 01:54


4.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5

Bottle sample at Vova’s Hoppy Beerthday tasting at Dancing Camel Florentin. Thanks Yoav. Hazy deep golden. Aroma of stale hops, some spice. Flavor has sweetish malt, stale hops, bitter finish with a spicy note. Medium-bodied. Too old.

Tried from Bottle on 17 Sep 2015 at 10:07


9.8
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9

Aroma: caramel, resin, citrus, Appearance: golden, hazy, minimal head, Taste: medium sweetness, medium bitterness, Palate: full body, thick feel, average carbonation, long finish,

Tried on 22 Mar 2015 at 21:12


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

22oz bottle from Wegmans, West Seneca, NY. a hazy amber pour with a tight cream head; aroma of spicy aromatic hops, but also with some fruit; the taste is interesting and complex, a grainy, toasted oat body, some delicate fruit, and a well-balanced spicy hop bitterness, that completely masks the alcohol; the finish is sticky with lingering hops and fruit and some warming spice. Rather good.

Tried from Bottle on 03 Feb 2015 at 20:14


8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

bottle - Pours lightly hazy copper colored with a two finger head. It has a floral and citrus hop aroma. The flavor as expected is high on the bittering hops. The citrus and florals are there too. It’s got a full bodied malt backbone with a long bitter finish. As usual it’s another excellent IIPA from Stone.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Nov 2014 at 13:06


6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle. Etched glass. Pours orange gold white head. Nose/taste of flaked oats, dry bread, dried grapefruit pith, dirty earthy caramel. Medium body.

Tried from Bottle on 26 Sep 2014 at 15:54


6.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

New Beer Distributors, NYC 650ml ($9.50): Pours amber with an off-white head. Aroma is full of citrus, berries, spice, and a heavy malt backbone. Taste is bitter, plenty of fruitiness. It was also somewhat sweet. Body was thicker than I would have liked. Aftertaste was long and sustained. I didn’t really love this beer. I don’t know if the bottle was old or if this beer is just not for me, but I did not have a great time drinking this.

Tried from Bottle on 20 Sep 2014 at 12:28


8.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Hazy golden coloured body with a nice thin, single centimetre tall white head and no movement at all - nice but not great. Aroma of pungent citrus and grassy hops with a lot of white grape notes, some mineral smells and a hearty dose of passionfruit - very nice indeed. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong rich and pungent hop character with the white grape bitterness, some subdued earthiness, but a lot of herbal, grassy and yeast qualities as well. Aftertaste shows mostly a grassy and hop kick with the tropical fruits and sweetness abound and some noticeable but not horribly pungent alcohol warmth at the end. Overall, a very nice Imperial IPA that almost shows as a traditional IPA - full of flavour and not overly done. Generally, I despise beers that exist on reputation alone, but this one is a very nice one - a great beer that is worthy of a high rating, and it would get it whether it had a label or not. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Falls Church (Tyson’s Corner) on 22-May-2014 for US$9,99 sampled at home in Washington on 07-September-2014.

Tried from Bottle on 07 Sep 2014 at 22:19


6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6

22oz bottle picked up at Cork and Bottle Liquors
Pours cloudy golden with a medium sized off-white head, good lacing. Aroma is malty, caramel and fruity. Taste is the same with some pine resin in the finish
I’m loosing faith in Stone. A malty, sweet mess

Tried from Bottle on 27 Aug 2014 at 22:49