Stone 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung IPA
From Stone Brewing Co. – Our latest anniversary beer, starring an all-German cast of malt and hops, is yet one more glorious example of a Stone IPA brewed outside the box. Our brewers have brought their experiments with German hops to fruition, leaving convention behind to create this hefty IPA entirely with pilsner malts. These provide a superbly crisp mouthfeel, while a unique mix of noble and new-school hop varieties adds layers of bright, bitter flavors. Despite the daunting name, this beer isn’t designed to bring about the end of the world, but it just might destroy some of your preconceived notions of what an IPA can be.
Stone Brewing Co. Stone 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung IPA – 22 oz. bottle poured into a pilsner glass – 9.5% abv. Found at Certified Market Monrovia, CA
Appearance: Pours clear amber tinted gold. A decent head quickly subsides to a firm white cap. Leaves dense lacing behind.
Aroma: Big hop nose giving off scents of lemon essence, grass,fresh herbs. Butter toffee, fancy herbal scented hand soap.
Taste: Some sweet toffee like malt with a lasting mouthful of hops coming from every direction. Pine, grapefruit, herbal. Your mouth is coated with bitterness, your burps become imperial burps. Alcohol is apparent but appropriate for this monster of a beer.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied, fairly smooth and almost numbing from the hop bitterness.
Overall: This was a big, bitter, malty enjoyable beer. I drank a bottle a week ago, and was confused by this beer. I had a bottle by myself at the dinner table a week later, and the layers of this beer had me smiling, sipping and sniffing for a good 40 minutes. I’m not a fan of Imperial Pilsners, they are usually too harsh for my palate. This had the malt sweetness of a regular Double IPA, but with a completely different hop profile. Stone didn’t have to use the term IPA, so that we could “change our preconceived notions of what an IPA can be.” With that said, once I turned off my IPA blinders I got to know this good beer very well as just a good hoppy ale.
