Delicious IPA
Stone Brewing Company
Escondido, California
Gluten reduced India Pale Ale
7.7% abv
Stone, we all know who they are. The makers of the hoppy American Strong Ale, Arrogant Bastard. They also brew some of the best IPA's in the country. Stone is know for a lot of things, brewing hop forward beers is one of those things.
This review is on one of Stone's newest offerings, Delicious IPA. This IPA is a little different from some of their previous brews, mainly because of the reduced amounts of gluten found in this beverage. Gluten sucks for Craft Beer. There are a decent amount of people out their who can not drink beer due to certain allergies. Gluten allergies are one of the main ones. Craft Beer, generally contains a sizable about of gluten. Stone spent over a year researching and developing this beer. They still use real Craft Beer ingredients, so you don't have to worry about not having a "real" beer. It's just that they have created a way to brew that has REDUCED the amount of gluten found in the beer. There is still some gluten, so it can't be labeled as "Gluten Free", but they are small amounts. This brew was produced with one goal in mind, to provide a high quality Craft Beer that almost everyone could enjoy. They say that they have done that... But does it taste good enough to deserve the name "Delicious"? Let's find out...
Appearance...
This brew looks good! A very nice, beautifully clear golden amber color sits just below a perfect white head. As the foam slowly starts to dissipate, there is a generous amount of lacing left behind on the sides of my glass. I hope this brew smells and tastes as good as it looks. 9/10
Aroma...
There is a lot going on here. The label says this beer is brewed with Lemondrop and El Dorado hops. I'm not too familiar with those, but if that's what's in this beer, they may become some of my favorite hops! At first I got lots of lemon and grapefruit scents paired with some mild pineapple and tropical notes. As the beer warmed up a little, I got some earthy and floral notes as well as some faint, but apparent fruit ester notes. This is not the hoppiest beer I've smelled, but it smells pretty damn good. 8/10
Flavor...
Here's the most important part of reviewing this beer, the flavor. After all, it is called Delicious. To have the balls to name a beer that, you'd better be pretty confident in the taste. My first sip was pretty bitter, but that's common for me with most IPA's. After a drink or two, things started to open up. Being Gluten Reduced, I was a little worried that this beer would be kind of boring, that was totally not the case. I got tons of citrus right up front, and as I drank, the bitterness level maintained quite nicely. It's not just all hops in the flavor though. One things that makes an IPA a good IPA, is the balance of hops and malts. This beer does that well. I got some bready almost toast like flavors, but they weren't super prominent. They were there, and just sweet enough to take the edge off of some of the bitterness. As it warms up, you start to notice that 7.7% abv., that keeps me from giving it a 9+ in this category. That being said, this brew is tasty, it definitely doesn't miss the gluten. 8/10
Mouthfeel...
Again, because of the reduced gluten, I didn't really know what to expect in this category. I was a little worried it would be too thin. Fortunately that wasn't the case. An IPA is not supposed to be really thick, you're looking for a smooth, medium body. That's exactly what you find here. The carbonation is perfect, but as I mentioned above, it is a little warm in regards to the alcohol. Because of that I cant give it a 10. 9/10
Overall...
If you follow Craft Beer news, you'd know that Stone has killed some of it's more popular beers. Levitation their Amber, Sublimely Self Righteous their Black IPA and their Pale Ale have been discontinued to make room for beers like this. Now, while I'll miss two of those brews, this beer will definitely keep me happy. It is everything you'd want in a world class IPA, minus some of the gluten. I give this brew an...
8.5/10
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