Stone Releases Enjoy By 04.20.14

Stone Enjoy By 04.20.14 IPA features a massive profile of the resinous green buds (hops, not the other green buds), coaxed from a unique blend of 13 different hop varieties added throughout the brewing process. When combined, the deluge of hops creates nuances of peaches and tropical fruit qualities that are evident in the aroma, while the taste has an overwhelmingly sweet bitterness.

Since Stone Enjoy By IPA’s initial debut in late 2012, the beer has proved to be a groundbreaking way to enjoy fresh beer and has changed the way Stone and its distributors work together to deliver beer to increasingly fervent craft beer enthusiasts. The "Enjoy By" date printed on each bottle reflects the date, precisely 35 days after bottling, by which the beer must be consumed. And Stone continues to make sure it will be. In the unlikely event that any hop-potent beer remains on the shelves on April 21, it will immediately be removed.

“This is the most ambitious Stone Enjoy By IPA release to date,” said Stone President and Co-founder Steve Wagner. “This beer continues to be a fan favorite, so we are excited that it’s being offered in a record number of states. We encourage fans who want future batches of the beer to vote through their social media accounts and online.”

Appearance: Golden with a creamy white head.
Aroma: Intense dank hoppiness, resin, peaches, and hints of tropical fruit are all evident in the aroma.
Taste: Smooth malt up front, quickly dissipating into a massive onslaught of hops. The dankness and peach notes come through strongly.
Palate: Smooth with hints of alcohol, and a perfect balance of bitterness and dryness on the back end.
Overall: We took the opportunity with this beer to use several interesting techniques we’ve learned during our many years of brewing great double IPAs. The result is an intense dry beer with very little malt sweetness, but with plenty of malt flavor to provide a background to the enormous…or shall I say "ginormous" hop character. Hopping, as might be expected, was over the top. First, the brew was mash-hopped with Ahtanum, one of our favorite hop varieties, after which we kettle-hopped with a very small dose of Super Galena hop extract for bittering. Then, using a technique known in homebrew circles as “hop bursting,” we loaded up very heavily on the flavor hops at the end of the boil and in the whirlpool. Simcoe, Delta, Target and Amarillo were used in the late kettle hop. Simcoe, Amarillo, Calypso and Cascade were used for the whirlpool hop. As you can clearly tell, this beer was super hoppy even before we dry-hopped it, but then we went for it…dry-hopping with primarily Southern Hemisphere hops, including Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Citra and Helga. 

Drink extra-super-dank-and-tasty Stone Enjoy By 04.20.14 IPA well before its shelf life to maximize the pungent glory that this beautiful, intense hop profile provides.
.