Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Escondido, California USA

Savannah, Ga. - Habersham Beverage Warehouse - 22 oz bomber. Pours a murky dark gold to light orange with a soft silky white head that leaves elegant lacing. Clean, fresh aroma with hints of muted citrus, some floral accents, some white grapes. Flavor is smooth and refined. Detect a presence of grapefruity hoppiness, some candied sugar notes, a hint of mint, some other fruitiness - nectarines perhaps. Mouthfeel is thick and sticky. Interesting experiment - not as over the top as some Stones - but solid.

Poured golden amber, hoppy, citrus, malty, yeasty, spicey, little caramel, little peach.

Bomber at the Spring Cleansin’. This one was sampled deep into the cleansin’, so my notes just have my numbers and the word "bubblegum" written down twice. That usually means fruity-spicy and maybe some notes of wheat. I remember some citrus and resin, and that I thought it was pretty good, but not great.

22 oz bottle. Pours a perfectly clear gold body with a one inch fizzy white head that receded to a thin film. Lots of lacing from this one. The nose is citrusy hops with just a little bit of a belgian yeast influence, A bit of a soapy note below the tangerine and hops. The taste is a bit medicinal and floral for my liking. Reminds me of when you eat the decorative orchid that they place on your plate at wedding receptions (they wouldn’t put it on the plate if you weren’t supposed to eat it right?). Not a whole lot of Belgian character to it, but there’s a certain sweetness on the back end along with some fruity and spicy notes that remind me a bit that this is a Belgian inspired effort. Seems like there should be some yeastiness going on here. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a slightly sticky and clingy finish and fizzy pinpoint champagne like carbonation. Overall, this was OK, but very much pales in comparison to a lot of the other Belgian IPAs (See Bullfrog Houblonium P38).

22oz bottle-pours an off white head that laces and gold color. Aroma is perfumy, sweet citrus-orange/lemon/grapefruit/pine. Taste is perfumy, sweet citrus-orange/lemon/grapefruit/pine and herbal hops, light malt, dry, yeast, some pepper. OK effervescence. Thanks decaturstevo for sharing this.

Bottle. Pours clear amber with a nice frothy off-white head. Aroma is mostly Belgian, spicy yeast and candi sugar, with a little bit of citrusy hops if you smell hard enough. The flavor starts off with the Belgian bubblegum sweetness but the hops take over and the finish is pretty good. Interesting stuff.

Interesting idea, no reason why it shouldnt work well. Pours golden orange body with a nicely packed off white head. Straight-up the nose is more belgian than US. Fruit present but tending to peach and lemon more so than grapfruit and apricot. Palate translates well, milder fruit present early with only a touch of caramel malt. Medium-high hop bitterness drives us back into US territory. Quite good. The use of belgian yeast tones down the usual overt sweetness and pine hop notes.

Bottle from Utobeer, shared at home with Mes, 27th Feb 2009. Golden amber with a big white head. Sublime floral aroma. Good flavours - fruit, soft malts, varied hops. Nice palate. Really impressive stuff.