Image
Stone 18th Anniversary IPA  bottle and glass
Image
Stone 18th Anniversary IPA  bottle and glass

Stone 18th Anniversary IPA

The Hoppiest Golden-Brown IPA on Earth

STYLE
Double India Pale Ale
ABV
8.5%
IBUs
75

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.

ABOUT THIS BEER

Release Date
August 11, 2014

Tasting Notes

Appearance
Pours deep amber with a golden-brown hue and an off-white-colored head.
Aroma
Herbal, lemon and lemongrass hop notes, combined with very light levels of cocoa, coffee and roasted malts.
Taste
Fruity hops, lemon, orange zest and tropical fruit, with a complex malt base featuring coffee and toffee elements. The hop finish is very lemony.
Palate
Full-bodied with a bitter, dry finish.
Overall
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.
Provided by
Mitch Steele
,
Brewmaster

Pairing Notes

Appetizers
Sweet potato fries with roasted garlic aioli, blistered shishito peppers, grilled prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, fried pork wontons
Soups
Kale & white bean, miso ramen, tortilla
Salads
Chicken, green mango
Entrées
Roasted chicken, pad thai, stuffed acorn squash, pork chops, carnitas tacos
Cheeses
Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, Idiazabal, Cypress Grove Chevre Lamb Chopper, Bellwether Farms San Andreas
Desserts
Peach cobbler, apricot cheesecake, carrot cake, baked nectarines with pistachios
Cigars
Drew Estate Herrera Esteli Piramide, Tatuaje Cabaiguan, Rocky Patel Connecticut, L'Atelier Lat56
Provided by
"Dr." Bill Sysak
,
Craft Beer Ambassador