Stone Levitation

Stone's Levitation Ale is a gold medal beer. 2007 Great American Beer Festival's winner in the American red/ amber category. Everything that we've had from Stone thus far has been mind blowing. So, with that being said, this has to be good, right?

Before I begin, Stone has an amazing array of caps. There are different quotes and different designs. This cap says "[Stone] has no interest in going mainstream if that means watering down the product." -Inc. Magazine

This is a surprisingly lighter selection at 4.4% ABV, 45 IBUs. This pours a deep, hazy amber, with some off white head that sticks around a bit. The aroma is.... wow, I'll see if I can capture all this. Citrus and caramel with tones of pine and spice. This smells damn good, much better than the Seagram's V.O. whiskey we've been drinking (in memory of a dear friend who recently passed), or the Sailor Jerry's rum when our friend would show up. I realize now that we consume a lot of alcoholic beverages, and I'm fine with that. The part I'm not fine with is that my fingers seem to be rambling when they should be working with the rest of my hand, picking this pint glass up so I can drink it. Damn fingers, what good are they anyways. There are plenty of different species in the animal kingdom that don't have fingers, and they survive. Ah, but they also don't have beer, touche fingers. So onto my fingers doing their damned job before I cut them off. So, first off, for being such a lighter beer, it has such flavor. Picture what you got in the nose, add some light roasted tones from the malt, and that's the front of the flavor. That melding awesomeness fades quickly and gives way to a lemony and grassy finish that lingers temporarily. The mouthfeel is light and this drinks really smooth.

My only quarrel with this is it's light. It's not a big quarrel, it's just a mind fuck for me. A beer this good should not have such a light mouthfeel. And now the 6 oz of mine are gone, so I turn this over to my counterpart who's working on an awesome painting.

4.6/5 caps

-Nathan-

Now that the chill haze has worn off, let's see how this stacks up to the rest of Stone's offerings. I'm surprised that this is so session-able at 4.4%. I'm not going to complain; I like when breweries step outside their comfort zones a bit. Once he finally got around to the aroma and flavor, my partner in crime nailed the description of the beer.

I love that the back of the bottle goes into the etymology of the word "levitation" while subtly getting their digs in at Anheuser-Busch and Miller-Coors, reminding us that most great brews follow the Reinheitsgebot rules of water, yeast, barley, and hops. I think Levitation is a great name for this brew... it leaves me wondering what levitating forces are at work here, and my state of mind has certainly levitated since consuming this. Or at least elevated. Then again, I'm simultaneously painting, which also tends to help my state of mind.

Overall, this is much hoppier than I would expect from a session amber ale. And I'm certainly not going to complain about that. 

4.4/5 caps

-Jennie