Stone Levitation Ale

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

I generally like the bombastic nature of Stone beers; I love the Arrogant Bastard and their Imperial Stout is simply the best... but this has supplanted them in my pantheon. Levitation Ale really is the summation of all Stone’s craft, attention to detail and refusal to compromise in a singular brew that is nearly perfect in every respect. Were I forced to come up with a criticism, I think it would be that I like beers that generally top 6 to 7 percent ABV, but for this beer, the 4.4 is perfect and just adds to its drinkability... Rock on, Stone!

Pours a clear brown amber color with small amount of foamy offwhite head. Aroma is mostly toffee sweet malts and a hint of grapefruit and citrus hops. Flavor a bit watery, but not too much so, sweet caramel base and good mild citrus hop presence. Overall, enjoyable.

I shared a bottle of this with BeerBaron617, we picked it up as part of a pic six. Umm, well, all I can say about it is that as a beer from Stone, I am not all too impressed. I think they do a great job with IPA’s, but as an Amber Ale, I think they tried really hard to be something they weren’t. It looked great, nice amber red color with a white head. Aroma was a bit towards the IPA side, pretty hoppy. I didn’t feel like this had a lot going for it outside of wanting to be an IPA. As a Stone beer, it was ok, but as a beer I would want to buy regularly, not so much.

From bottle. The nose has two seemingly distinct notes: coffee or roasted barley type of nutty-bitterness, and the citrusy-pine-apricot of some nice fresh hops. The two seem to take turns on your nostrils, as though a speedy drum roll of these two aromas batter your senses so that each seems separate but also integrated with the other. Odd. Dark copper-amber clear, almost brown, with foamy off-white lacing head. Medium watery body with medium-high carbonation. As with the nose, the taste hits you in two places at once. First there is a little bit of caramel sweetness with underlying nutty and coffee-chocolate notes. That ends almost immediately with a very dry carbonic acid tang and bitter citrusy hop bang. Bitter finish and after, very dry.

Pours on the red side of amber with a tight white head. Bitter grapefruit peel perfume assaults the nose with touch of sweet malt in the background. This beer is very heady to say the least. As with many Stone brews this is very hop forward and not very apologetic. A wall of dried citrus hop spice dominates a lightly sweet malt with touch of toast. Exceptionally clean finish, with only the driest of hop flavors sticking around. Excellent session beer, this should be a standard goal of any local brewing outfit. 92

12 ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine Pembroke Pines, FL for $1.99 Very good!

Amber ale??? I thought this was an IPA.... oh well....Cool sketching on the bottle. Poured into a glass... Great nose of citrus hops. Red in color, decent head. Texture was a little on the thin side... a little disappointed. Taste was malty with light hop base... just boring... Sorry I will stick with Stones IPA any day. Skip this one, your not missing much.

Bottle from TheCaptain, thanks Mark. This beer is a hophead’s wet dream. Absolutely packed with hop flavor and aroma but with little enough alcohol that you can sip on it all night. Dark amber with good head retention. Notes of pine, citrus, toast, and a bit of grass. Restrained bitterness. Delicious.