Soaring Dragon
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Imperial / Double Rotating|
Score
7.10
|
|
At Stone Brewing, we have been fascinated by brewing with tea for a long time. A fan favorite over the years has been our 2011 collaboration: Baird/Ishii/Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA (a “one-off” that was so popular we re-brewed it in 2015). Over the last few years, we have continued our obsession with tea, brewing different versions with different types of tea on our pilot system in Escondido as well as at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station and Stone Brewing – Napa. We visited the Tianshan Tea City market in Shanghai, China in search of the perfect tea for this IPA that we had in mind. Of all the types of tea we experimented with, White Tea kept coming up as our favorite. The challenge then was to get the perfect amount of tea in the beer to achieve harmony and balance, which we have done in this Imperial White Tea IPA.
A few of our brewers took a side trip to the famous Tianshan Tea City market to experience the legend themselves. They were blown away. Inspired, they began experimenting back home, learning how well the delicate, floral qualities of these teas worked in combination with certain hop varieties. This imperial IPA loaded with White Tea is the result of that bountiful trip and the resulting experimentation. The amazing aromas and flavor profile of this beer are witness to the joy of experimentation and a testament to making time for side trips.
A few of our brewers took a side trip to the famous Tianshan Tea City market to experience the legend themselves. They were blown away. Inspired, they began experimenting back home, learning how well the delicate, floral qualities of these teas worked in combination with certain hop varieties. This imperial IPA loaded with White Tea is the result of that bountiful trip and the resulting experimentation. The amazing aromas and flavor profile of this beer are witness to the joy of experimentation and a testament to making time for side trips.
Sign up to add a tick or review
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Can. Hazy gold in color with a nice nig head. Aroma is floral and fruity. Taste is slightly sweet up front with a floral/tea middle and a finish that's only slightly bitter.
Tried
from Can
on 10 Mar 2025
at 05:01
7.5/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
(Can) Cloudy pale amber colour with frothy, tan head. Fruity, hoppy nose with notes of mango, herbs (jasmine, bergamot), orange marmalade and dried pineapple. Fruity, hoppy taste with mango, orange marmalade, dried pineapple, orange candy, herbs and a generous citric/herbal bitterness in the finish. Medium body, with a slight sweetness. Fruity and hoppy with a good touch of herbs and tea. Very nice.
Tried
from Can
on 05 Feb 2025
at 20:15
6/10
Tried
on 14 Jun 2023
at 20:57
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
12 oz bottle. Slight fruit under the cap, then some resiny hops. Hazy whitish-yellow beer under a spongy head. Smell in the glass runs a little milder. Try as I might, I can't pick up anything in here that says tea. It's a nice, bracing IPA with light malts that still add up to some alcohol. And it goes down pretty nicely. There's a slight sting of extra hops on my lip halfway into the bottle. So it's pretty decent, just nothing that spells 'tea' to me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jan 2021
at 05:11
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Bine & Vine. Pours clear amber gold with a decent frothy white head. Aroma is something that suggests tea. But not exactly black tea. Or even green tea. Med plus body. Flavor is citrus with something that clearly is tea, but ... Some mildly roasty malt. It's quite bitter - but that may be much due to the tea. Dry. Dry enough to twist the mouth. Quite a drink.
Tried
from Bottle
on 17 Jan 2021
at 02:27
6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Can from Systembolaget. One of those beers that does something strange and does exactly what it says on the tin it does. This thing stinks and tastes of white peony tea. Now beyond its nice appearnce, I am not sure whether white peony tea is something I want in my beer. Difficult one to rate. For having done what it wanted to do 5/5, but not a beer I would return to. A nice gimick. I wonder why it needed the 8% oomph, even though that is enjoyable.
Tried
from Can
on 09 Jan 2021
at 18:46
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Gyllengul grumlig vätska med tjockt och vitt skum. Aromer av citrus, tallbarr och bröd. Rejäl maltkropp med apelsinskal som matchas av en smakrik humlebeska där tallbarr och kåda framträder. Mjuk, nästan gräddig munkänsla. Eldig och lång eftersmak.
Tried
on 06 Dec 2020
at 18:44
10/10
Tried
on 04 Dec 2020
at 21:26
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Can 35,5 cl. Pours an almost clear golden with a small, white head. Very old school aroma of biscuits and turpentine with the aroma hops played down. Medium body only, slight fruitiness and some interesting subtle tea notes that may also add to the general bitterness. But typical Stone in its very straightforward approach 031220
Tried
from Can
on 03 Dec 2020
at 16:15
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Can web SB 2020-10-16 Göteborg AR: orange zest marmalade, dried tropical fruity, white apricot, wee Tea AP: hazy orange, fizzy cream orange white thick lid F: orange zest marmalade, dried tropical fruity, white apricot, wee Tea
Tried
from Can
on 16 Oct 2020
at 17:55