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Beachwood / Heretic / Stone Unapologetic IPA close-up
Image
Beachwood / Heretic / Stone Unapologetic IPA close-up

Beachwood / Heretic / Stone Unapologetic IPA

Who says the world needs another IPA? We do.

STYLE
Double India Pale Ale
ABV
8.8%
IBUs
85

Maybe it seems passé to some: three masters of hoppy beer once again exploring the familiar territory of the India pale ale. Who needs yet another IPA, double or otherwise, right? To those who feel this way, this trio’s reply is, “So what?” They aren’t staying in their comfort zone—they’re hitting a sweet spot in the name of all that is good, delicious, hoppy and forward-thinking to create an IPA that’s both like and unlike anything they, or you, have ever tasted. Rife with essence of pine, resin, and fruits both citrus and tropical, there’s no need for apologies with this beer. All that’s necessary is a yearning for hops, a sturdy constitution and an empty glass.

ABOUT THIS BEER

Release Date
June 30, 2014
Beeradvocate
89

Tasting Notes

Appearance
Pours golden with a creamy white head.
Aroma
Intensely aromatic with stone fruit, white wine and berries driving most of the hop character. Lots of yeast esters, a touch of alcohol, and a nice malt backbone follow after the hop aromatics.
Taste
Fruity, strong melon, tropical, and hints of citrus with a balanced malt character.
Palate
Dry and very bitter. Just the way we like it!
Overall
When Jamil, Julian and I first started discussing this beer, I don’t think we even considered brewing anything other than a double IPA. So the question became: “How do we make this beer unique and something that reflects all of our approaches to brewing this wonderful beer style?” Julian suggested first wort hopping with Chinook and using a four-way blend of hops in the whirlpool and dry hop. Jamil suggested the malt bill, which includes the use of biscuit malt, something I’ve never used before in an IPA. As a result, the beer has a great blend of fruit flavors and an intense bitterness coming from the hops, which the three of us love. The hops we used are new and experimental varieties. For several years now, we’ve been researching the flavor profiles of newer varieties here at Stone Brewing, and the flavor descriptors we came up with for each of the hops used for dry-hopping this beer are as follows:
Belma – Strawberry or grape jam, black currants and berries, with some citrus
HBC 342 – Citrus and melon
Hopsteiner 06300 – Coconut, tropical fruit and orange, with hints of cocoa and earthiness
Azacca – Tropical fruit, citrus and stone fruit.
Together, it’s a fun combination of hops that we think works exceptionally well for this beer.
Provided by
Mitch Steele
,
Brewmaster

Pairing Notes

Appetizers
Guacamole, coconut shrimp, kale chips, rosemary chicken kabobs
Salads
Thai cucumber, Greek, avocado and feta, grilled chicken taco
Entrées
Fish tacos, pad thai, shrimp scampi, vegetarian korma
Cheeses
Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, Cambozola, Grana Padano, Widmer’s 4-year aged cheddar
Desserts
Carrot cake, coconut macaroons, peach cobbler, spice cake
Cigars
Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label Invictos Corojo Robusto, Defiance by Xikar The Guardian, Alec Bradley Trilogy Authentic Corojo Churchill, Drew Estate Herrera Esteli
Provided by
"Dr." Bill Sysak
,
Craft Beer Ambassador