Japanese Green Tea IPA
Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: Baird Brewing Co. / Ishii Brewing CompanyIPA - Triple Special Out of Production
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Score
7.30
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Collaborators: Bryan Baird, Brewmaster, Baird Brewing Company / Toshi Ishii, President/Brewmaster, Ishii Brewing Co. / Mitch Steele, Brewmaster, Stone Brewing Co.
Our style of brewing has always been about taking chances. It’s an extension of our “What if” mentality, wherein we ask ourselves what would happen if we did things differently in the brewhouse, such as fermenting with a different strain of yeast or, in the case of this beer, incorporating whole-leaf green tea imported from Japan. The answer, embodied in this IPA when we first released it in 2011, was something truly magnificent, delicious and well worth brewing again. But what if we changed it up a bit? This time around, we exchanged Pacifica hops from New Zealand for Helga hops from Australia. The result is an IPA that’s as bright, herbaceous and bitingly hoppy as the one that’s had our fans requesting its return ever since its depletion from store shelves, but with a modern, hop-driven twist that makes this second draft unique and tasty in its own right.
Our style of brewing has always been about taking chances. It’s an extension of our “What if” mentality, wherein we ask ourselves what would happen if we did things differently in the brewhouse, such as fermenting with a different strain of yeast or, in the case of this beer, incorporating whole-leaf green tea imported from Japan. The answer, embodied in this IPA when we first released it in 2011, was something truly magnificent, delicious and well worth brewing again. But what if we changed it up a bit? This time around, we exchanged Pacifica hops from New Zealand for Helga hops from Australia. The result is an IPA that’s as bright, herbaceous and bitingly hoppy as the one that’s had our fans requesting its return ever since its depletion from store shelves, but with a modern, hop-driven twist that makes this second draft unique and tasty in its own right.
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7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle from Appellation Wines. Appearance - bright golden amber. Some head. Nose - green herbs, now when I think about it, I guess it must be green herbs. Taste - green tea is quite dominant. Palate - very interesting but probably good, though that said more interesting than good. Overall - yeah, good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Mar 2015
at 11:41
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle at AshtonMcCobb’s, from Appellation Wines. Cheers Ash! Pours clear pale gold, thick white head. Aromas of strong green tea, light malt, light herbal hops. Taste is bitter, lots more green tea, some hot alcohol. An interesting brew.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Mar 2015
at 11:37
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bomber from ABV. Pours a clear dark copper, almost orange color with a medium white head. A huge fruity nose, tropical, citrus. The base here is a lovely big fruity IIPA, resin, a sharp dry green tea and bitter hop path after the initial tropical citrus fruit. Very odd, also very good. I don’t think I’d easily recognize the green tea without knowing it, but I would notice the dryness in the middle. Quite good. Apricots, green tea, bitter lemons. It works well.
Tried
on 13 Mar 2015
at 02:09
5.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Tap into a tulip showing translucent amber hues and no head. The nose shows a strong foundation of citric IPA and grapefruit tones with very generous hints of macha. The palate shows macha on the attack with pithy grapefruit on the mid-palate and throughout in the background of the beer. A strong tea stringency is also shown. The bitterness is a mix of sharp and zesty grapefruit with the round & humming bitterness of the macha. These flavors clash tremendously. As the fresh citric flavors of the IPA appear they are quickly and strangely suppressed by the macha flavors making for a very unpleasant beer. Once again, one of the reasons why I don’t think macha should ever be in a beer.
Tried
from Draft
on 08 Mar 2015
at 19:20
8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Bottle from Appellation Wines. Hazy golden body with tiny yeast flecks floating around. Thick off-white head. Good lacing. Steady carbonation. Aroma of apricot, lime jelly, peach and green tea. Flavour is more subtle than I was expecting - green tea, melon, apricot, pine resin and minerals. Bitter finish. Medium body with an oily mouthfeel. Light fizz. Drinks like it’s half the ABV. Very impressive.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Mar 2015
at 17:08
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle at tad’s. Pours clear amber, nose is green tea, herbal, light fruit, taste is dry, fruity, toffee, green tea.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Mar 2015
at 11:09
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at Happy Gnome. Pours a clear gold with a touch of orange and a white head that dissipates to the edges and laces slightly. Aroma has notes of light citrus, flora and a bit green tea as well as grass. Flavor has lots of bitter grapefruit with some grass and light flora underlying.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Mar 2015
at 11:48
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
From bottle to tulip. Sweet tea, orange and crisp fall air! Copper-orange with minimal off white head. Taste is citrus and tropical, the green tea comes out at the end.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Mar 2015
at 23:41
6.1/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Tap at RNH, NYC. Golden color, good white head. Aroma has tea and other herbal notes. Light to medium-bodied. Covers Abv well. Tea flavors dominate then resiny bitterness and fruityness. Interesting combo but wouldnt take another one.
Tried
from Draft
on 03 Mar 2015
at 16:37
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
The Green Tea IPA pours a lovely clear copper with a foamy head that fades pretty quickly. The bouquet on this beer is really good - fresh herbal & fruity hops with just the slightest hint of green tea. It’s got the juicy hop fruitiness I prefer in an IPA. Full bodied and syrupy in texture. The taste is sweet, candyish, green tea, fruits, herbs & a boozy bitter finish. 10% is maybe a bit too full on for me, I think I’d rather have the lower ABV original. Great nose, nice flavor.
Tried
from Can
on 03 Mar 2015
at 08:39