18th Anniversary IPA
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Imperial / Double Special Out of Production|
Score
7.18
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The Hoppiest Golden-Brown IPA on Earth
As we compose the text for this celebratory beer—a golden‐brown India pale ale dry-hopped exclusively and abundantly with El Dorado hops—we stand ready to leap from the precipice of all we know into a new era for our company, our beers and, most importantly, our fans. It’s one that will see us exploring new territory, both geographically and creatively, as we evolve from pacesetters for the American craft brewing movement to cross‐planetary champions of the worldwide cause of craft, hoisting our banner to proclaim artisanal beers’ vast superiority over stripped‐down, business-driven, industrialized, fizzy yellow mediocrity. We thank you for shadowing us for the first 18 years of our journey, and welcome you to join us for next leg and all that follows.
Several iterations of this beer were created before we settled on this recipe. Using a small amount of English Brown Coffee Malt in a double IPA seemed like an interesting idea to me, and was inspired in part by the success we had brewing Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA and The Alchemist/Ninkasi/Stone More Brown Than Black IPA. The malt character is rich and complex, with hints of cocoa and coffee that don’t interfere with the hop intensity. We used one of our favorite new hop varieties, El Dorado, 100 percent in the dry-hop stage, which provides a distinctive lemony character in the aroma and taste.
As we compose the text for this celebratory beer—a golden‐brown India pale ale dry-hopped exclusively and abundantly with El Dorado hops—we stand ready to leap from the precipice of all we know into a new era for our company, our beers and, most importantly, our fans. It’s one that will see us exploring new territory, both geographically and creatively, as we evolve from pacesetters for the American craft brewing movement to cross‐planetary champions of the worldwide cause of craft, hoisting our banner to proclaim artisanal beers’ vast superiority over stripped‐down, business-driven, industrialized, fizzy yellow mediocrity. We thank you for shadowing us for the first 18 years of our journey, and welcome you to join us for next leg and all that follows.
Several iterations of this beer were created before we settled on this recipe. Using a small amount of English Brown Coffee Malt in a double IPA seemed like an interesting idea to me, and was inspired in part by the success we had brewing Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA and The Alchemist/Ninkasi/Stone More Brown Than Black IPA. The malt character is rich and complex, with hints of cocoa and coffee that don’t interfere with the hop intensity. We used one of our favorite new hop varieties, El Dorado, 100 percent in the dry-hop stage, which provides a distinctive lemony character in the aroma and taste.
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7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
This has a huge initial dried apricot flavor. Dominates the initial smell and does well to dampen the alcohol aroma, though the latter is nonetheless present. Other than that, some candied malt and light florals. Pours dark amber with good head and lacing. Lacks an integrated palate though, and while I love apricot it doesn’t do enough to take over this one. Tap at Churchkey.
Tried
from Can
on 06 Sep 2014
at 15:41
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draft pour at the lodge. Pours a dark amber color with a sweet, nutty, hoppy aroma. Sweet malt flavor up front. Caramel and brown sugar. Sweet IPA for sure. Interesting beer here. Really long, sweet malty finish. 18 years of a solid IPA. Good stuff.
Tried
from Draft
on 05 Sep 2014
at 20:14
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
22 oz bottle. Pours a slightly dark amber with an off-white head. Pine and citrusy grapefruit aroma with a tropical touch. Citrusy and tropical fruit hop flavors with some toasty, slightly sweet malts. It’s quite tasty, really.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Sep 2014
at 00:47
8.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
4 oz draft pour at ChurchKey. Clear dark golden brown with off-white head. Aromas of floral notes, caramel, citrus, tropical fruit. Tastes of big tropical fruit, citrus, caramel. Medium body with a dry finish. Medium carbonation, juicy mouthfeel. Wasn’t expecting much from this one but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Tried
from Draft
on 31 Aug 2014
at 20:50
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bomber from Beer Run, opened 8/27/14. Pours a hazy medium brown color with a large dense tan head. Good head retention. Aroma of citrus and pine hops, mild malts and hay. The taste is candied citrus, citrus, tropical fruits, spicy herbal notes, soy, caramel malt. Medium bodied, low carbonaton, mild lingering bitterness. A little meek for these guys.
Tried
from Can
on 30 Aug 2014
at 20:46
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bomber from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours dark copper with a creamy beige head. Meanwhile the bottle blew a huge bubble! Amazing. Aroma is sort of dried light stone fruit/melon with some interesting caramel background. Med+ body. Flavor is pretty much the aroma, but perhaps the light stone fruit seems fresher. Getting a mild hop burn. Finishing somewhat malty, but more hoppy. The stone fruit gets stronger, the melon hangs around, and the malt persists. Damn nice drink.
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Aug 2014
at 17:16
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Pours a murky copper-gold, with good-sized, off-white head. Aroma has a lot of floral, hop character. Flavor is quite bitter, with strong, pine hops and some citrus, as well as some malty, biscuit flavor. Nice, resinous mouthfeel.
Tried
on 23 Aug 2014
at 13:42