Beer Review: Stone Brewing 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA

It's no secret that my favorite brewery is Stone Brewing out of Escondido, California. The quality of the product, their attitude and their dedication to the craft beer community is all a draw for me. Hell, two things on my Growler List involve Stone Brewing.

Anyways, this year celebrates Stone's 14th Anniversary and they've released another anniversary beer to celebrate. This years brew is called Emperial IPA and is an English style IPA. Using all British ingredients but adding their own Stone touch they've really knocked this one out of the park in my opinion.

I would recommend that if you don't like hoppy beers perhaps stay away from this one. The hops they use create a very peppery hop flavor with an intensely bitter finish. Could be a bit overwhelming to those not used to it. I highly recommend you start your hops journey though because you are truly missing out. Start with Arrogant Bastard. My favorite beer with pizza.

Well I was lucky enough to grab a bottle of the 14th Anniversary and wanted to share my review with you guys. I warn you though. It is 100% biased as hell. I love these guys and in my opinion they can do no wrong. On to the review:

Brewery: Stone Brewing Company

Beer: 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA

Style: English IPA(possibly a double IPA?)

ABV: 8.9%

Available in Louisiana?: Yes but limited.

Appearance: This beer poured a golden yellow with a fluffy white head. Lacing is incredible and present throughout.

Smell: Hop overload. Very grassy with hints of pepper and lemon. The overwhelming hop aroma hides any evidence of malt.

Taste: POW. Once again the hops are very strong and overwhelming. I wouldn't call it an English IPA as it is listed on BA. The beer is clearly called Emperial IPA which suggests a very hoppy brew and this one delivers. Nice grassy hop flavor with hints of pepper and citrus as in the nose. Biscuity flavor allows me to taste the maltiness which was hiding in the aroma. That 8.9% abv doesn't hide at all. Very boozy beer. Definitely a sipper.

Mouthfeel: Medium body and medium carbonation.

Overall: Not sure why this beer gets a lot of bad reviews on other beer websites. It's a Stone Brewing IPA. It's supposed to be hoppy. It delivers. Very nice hoppy brew. Another solid beer from Stone Brewing!

Score: 4.5 out of 5 Buddhas


Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

The Growler List Update

Meet Garrett Oliver

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

The Growler List

So I've never seen the 2007 movie The Bucket List but I get the idea. A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die. Whenever I think about things that I want to do before I die it always includes beer related things. Calling it a bucket list just doesn't do it justice so I think I'm going to call it the Growler List. The Growler List is a list of beer related things you want to do before you die. I've put together some of my list. Here are ten things that I came up with. There is no real order. I just threw them down on paper. So here ya go:

The Beer Buddha's Growler List:

- Go to the Great American Beer Festival
- Visit Westvleteren Abbey
- Drink beer at Brickstore Pub
- Visit what is probably my favorite brewery Stone Brewing Company
- Drink a Maui Brewing Company CoCoNut Porter on the beach in Maui.
- Go to the Great British Beer Festival
- Take a beer tour through Europe
- Take a beer tour through America
- Meet Greg Koch
- Meet Garrett Oliver


There is obviously room for more but this is what I have so far. It's a work in progress. So what's on your Growler List? I'd love to hear it.


Cheers!

The Beer Buddha