Stone 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung IPA

This entry is dedicated to the memory of Matt Courtright, 1986-2013. 

We awoke to some sad news this morning. A brewer at Stone Brewing Company, Matt Courtright, was killed yesterday in a forklift accident at the brewery. Stone responded today, and Greg, Steve, and the rest of the group sound pretty distraught. Our thoughts are with Matt's family and the Stone brew crew at this difficult time.

Stone has been making some really kick-ass brews, in case you hadn't noticed. They celebrated their 17th anniversary on Thursday, and we were hoping to celebrate with them. We picked up a couple of Stone brews recently and have been saving them for an epic night. Apparently that night is tonight. Tonight we are drinking their 17th anniversary brew, the Götterdämmerung IPA.

This pours a medium golden color with a moderate white head. The aroma on this is quite lovely, with grapefruit and pine-forward notes and a little hint of biscuit. It's not as strongly aromatic as, say their regular IPA or the Enjoy By. Taking a sip, it's a really interesting IPA. I pick up lemon, peach, a bit of grapefruit and some pine toward the end. What makes it so interesting is that it's not quite as bitter as I expect from Stone, who has mastered the art of the west coast IPA. You can tell there is a solid malt base, but it really doesn't come through in the flavor. Also, the peach really throws me off -- it's a rather pleasant and welcome surprise on my palate. Once it warms a bit, the caramel flavors from the malt really come through at the middle to end. At 9.5% ABV, you would have no idea drinking it that it's that high of an alcohol content, because there is no alcohol bite at all.

A big hearty congratulations to Stone. They've been making some seriously mind-blowing beers for 17 years. Peanut, at the ripe old age of 6, always calls them "Gargoyle Beer," which I find humorous. I've rarely had a beer of theirs I don't absolutely love. The style of the beer doesn't matter, either... I absolutely adore their IPAs, but I also love their Smoked Porter, their Imperial Russian Stout, and the collaborations they have done. Keep up the good work, and we look forward to another 17 years with you.

4.9/5 caps

-Jennie

I may edit something you previously said, "and we look forward to another 17 years with you." I think that should be "and we look forward the many more years of success you have ahead of you." So, this is Stone's 17th Anniversary release. If you don't know who Stone is, where have you been? What planet did you come from? Are you going to allow our government to run tests on you, or will they have to force you into it? Regardless, this has had time to warm up (between Jennie's review, the neighbors' surprise visit, the International Space Station passing over, and finding a good stopping point on the painting I'm working on), so let's delve deep in this and get on with the damn thing.

This, at the current moment, is a crystal clear amber color with a small amount of cream colored head that's trying to hang on for it's little foamy life.The aroma on this is an initial blast of grapefruit that gives way to a nice balance of caramel, earthy, and almost mint-like characteristics. This is different than most Stone brews that we've had, as they utilize German hop strains instead of the typical American strains. The fucking cat just jammed her claws into my neck while she was trying to jump onto the computer chair. Fuck. If she doesn't stop that, she'll quickly realize college football starts this week, as she becomes the ball. Fuck me running, that distracted me. ...Where was I, oh yeah, the flavor. The most enjoyable part of the beer for most people.

Huh. There's a lot going on here. Let's see if I can describe it all and not lose people's attention. It starts off with a smooth caramel that slides down the throat. That caramel gives way to an herbal tea-like flavor with a fading in blast of bitterness. There are some peach-like tones that follow that with waves of bitterness coming and going. There are pine-like notes that jump in sporadically,  but this ends with some grain (think Grapenuts cereal) taking a threshold on the taste buds. This drinks smooth, with a medium mouthfeel, light carbonation and a sheer smile that pops on your face with each sip. There's some slight resin and sweetness left on the cheeks and gums, rather different than what I'm used to with the enamel-ripping styles of IPAs that I thoroughly enjoy.

5/5 caps

-Nathan-