Appearance - Light golden with a hint of orange. Starts with a bit more than a half inch head that settles down within 10 minutes to a thin head with a little lacing.
Aroma - Very fresh & intense earthy, sappy, spicy grapefruit hop nose. Magnificent, in fact! Light pale malt in the background. Hard to describe how spectacular the nose of fresh hops is on this baby.
Palate - Big, round, fat, but seemingly dry. Very aromatic, grapefruit & fresh earthy hops from beginning to finish, but not super bitter. Nice pale malt. Powerful flavor - Amazing balance. Carbonation a hint above medium. Hint of Belgian yeast, but very much a nice background note, although it does expand with some air & as it warms. Seems like not many more IBU’s than their regular IPA, but this beer has the essence of fresh hops infused throughout like no other beer I’ve ever tasted.
Mouthfeel - Everything in balance. Huge flavor & persistence - fairly dry throughout. Medium body with big flavor.
Drinkability - Exceptional - hard to put the glass down other than to exclaim over the quality of this brew.
95/100 - American IPA types just don’t get much better than this.
WOW! Not the first time I’ve tasted this, but for my palate, this is the Perfect IPA. So much intense fresh hop aroma & flavor, but not overly bitter - not that I mind That, either! If there’s a better IPA for my palate, I haven’t tasted it yet. If you like this style, you have to get a hold of some!
I give thanks for the Stone brewers - too bad I’m on the other coast!?!
They don’t strictly categorize it as an IPA - although we both know it really IS one. The “Belgie” part, while clearly there, is also clearly in the background with this brew.
Love the Belgians, too, but they really hit a magical Sweet Spot with this one.
Those Chinook hops on the nose from the dry hopping drive me CRAZY!?! . . . and Insane, too!
I agree completely. The first time I had it, before my first sip, I was expecting something a lot more “Belgian”; I was hoppy to find out it was much more Cali than it was Belgie!
They use a Belgian yeast clone, which have a tendency to ferment a little differently, eats the sugars a bit more efficiently. It’s become a popular hybrid, though some definitely go more towards the ‘Belgie’ than the ‘Cali’.
Also, they’re graduating it away from a true seasonal; not a year round beer, but more than one batch.
To me this beer being fresh is the key.
Don’t get me wrong - the half dozen I’ve tracked down ARE still tasting great, but that AMAZING fresh hop nose will obviously fall off little by little.
Without that it will fall back to a slightly spicier, rounder version of the Stone IPA - which is not a Bad thing at all, but that Remarkable nose is what really sets this Great Brew apart.
Finally got around to tying this. I am not a huge Stone fan so I often forget to check the aisle. Is there a way to tell when it was brewed? It says “Enjoy by 07 06 10”.
Anyway, out of a 22 bomber:
I was very nicely surprised by this beer. I don’t drink a ton of Belgian beer so I can’t speak to that directly but I loved this variation of an IPA. Aromatically it held my attention very well with lots of fruit and hops. I got a bit of apple right through to the taste followed by just enough bitterness to keep it in balance. I am very happy when a beer leaves me thinking about the next time I will taste it. A+
I’m sure this is the '09 version. I believe it was brewed in August.
No doubt this is holding up & aging nicely, but to me this is best enjoyed young & fresh. The outrageously spicy, pungent, aromatic hop aroma from dry-hopping is at it’s biggest & best soon after bottling, only to slowly diminish.
That being said - I still have two bottles of ‘09 - havin’ a hard time popping my last ones! Ha Ha Ha
We just got another shipment in Virginia, and the distributor had received a few other loads from Stone since the last Cali-Belgique sold through, so I would be surprised if a new one hadn’t been brewed up. Same with Sublimely Self-Righteous.
Lots of brewers print their drink by dates directly on the bottle with translucent tan dot matrix printing. It’s nearly impossible to see without backlighting the bottle in some way.
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