On November 20th, they put out Enjoy By 12.25.16 Unfiltered IPA. Yes Virginia, you should drink it before Christmas, though it won't suddenly turn to coal on the 26th.
 |
| Stone's Virginia Brewery Prototype of Enjoy By 12.25.16 |
My initial impressions are admittedly guarded, as I'm not much of an IPA drinker. I've had a few too many bitter hop bombs, so IPAs aren't usually my first choice. Anything billing itself as a "double" or "imperial" doesn't help matters either. It was $16.99/6 from MyLHBS, but it clocks in at 9.4% ABV, so the price is justifiable.
I poured it into a Spiegelau IPA glass and noticed that the gold-colored beer was fairly clear for being "unfiltered." The head was respectable and, thanks to the design of the glass, persistent throughout my sampling.
The first sip lets you know this is a double IPA, but there's enough malt to back up the 90 IBUs. Stone merely describes the flavor as "tropical, intense, hoppy" which sells it short. The hop bill is long:
- Nugget
- Super Galena
- Simcoe
- Delta
- Target
- Amarillo
- Cascade
- Galaxy
- Citra
- Nelson Sauvin
- Motueka
- Helga
... so there's a lot going on here. I get the Citra grapefruit flavor with a slight lemongrass and pithy aftertaste. These were more noticeable as I went along. This IPA skeptic thinks this is mighty tasty.
Is the VA Prototype different from the Escondido brewery's output? I don't know. The recipes are the same, and I presume Stone would make adjustments for the Richmond water profile, but the fact that this didn't have to go cross-country means it's a wee bit fresher than it would be otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment