Stone Levitation Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Amber Ale
Escondido, California USA

Surprised at the low score. As far as amber ales go, this one is the bees knees. Pours a red tea colour with a thin off white lightly sticky head. Aroma is awesome, big caramel and burnt sugar, orange beer, and light notes of what I think is watermellon. Flavour is almost a spot on reflection of the aroma, ends on a citrus rind bitterness.

Bottle into a pint glass. A couple of fingers of medium bodied head. Smell is of mild hops and brown sugar. Mouthfeel is smooth and only mildly substantial. Mix of sweet and hoppy. Nothing is overpowering about this beer; not the hops, not the smell, not the malt and not the alcohol content. Overall, a nice session beer which I would happily have again, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

Draught at GBBF 2009. An amber coloured ale. Light hoppy aroma. Taste of hops, malt, honey. Decent low alcohol ale from Stone Brewing Co.

Poured from bottle. Hops and roast malt in aroma, Mahogany, with thick persistent tan head. Flavors of malt, nut, smoke. Grapefruit hops in aftertaste. Good finish. Sort of a hybrid, but I enjoyed it.

Bottle. Pours clear amber with a small white head. Aroma has some serious soapy, grapefruity hops, really delicious. Palate is light as expected, with allows much of the hop flavors to shine. This is my kind of red ale: clean, sharply hoppy, rounded with honey and a rich toasty flavor. Finishes with toasted, slightly chocolaty, hoppy bitterness. It is hoppy without being an IPA, it is malty without ever venturing near sweetness, it is complex without added ingredients or aging. Just a delicious, well-crafted ale, one that is making me increasingly aware that it is Stone’s “smaller” beers where they really shine.

Bottle from Half-Time. Pours a slightly hazy ruby red body with a medium sized tan head. Nice hoppy/malty aroma with some cherry notes. Medium bodied. Balanced hops and malts with some significant bitterness and spice. Somewhat of a thin finish. Yet another solid beer from Stone, even with the low ABV.

Bottle from Realale.com. Deep amber in colour with next to no head. Big, citrus hops and honeyed malt aroma. Flavour of grapefruit, orange blossom and a dash of pine, with a prickly, dry finish. Very good.

Not a bad beer. When you first smell this you will think, wow that smells like an IPA. The aroma is identical of that of a well balanced IPA. Then you taste it. Yes the hoppines is there but it is oddly very sweet. It is almost like a combination of a Saison and an IPA. Pretty good stuff overall.