Last week, Stone released a couple exciting new special edition beers: a Japanese Green Tea IPA and a Cherry Chocolate Stout. From the Boston Globe’s new beer blog, ’99 Bottles’, here are some initial positive reviews:
Japanese Green Tea IPA. Produced in collaboration with Ishii Brewing Co. in Guam and Baird Brewing Co. in Japan, this is an imperial India Pale Ale brewed, indeed, with green tea.
Bright orange with a frothy, 2-inch head, the beer exudes hops. A pungent aroma of citrus fruit leaps from the bottle as soon as it’s uncapped, and continues apace one the beer is poured into a glass. The nose seems to grow even more tropical as it breathes, and that characteristic translates to the taste — which is hoppy (70 IBUs, or International Bitterness Units), bitter, and spicy with citrus overtones and herbal undertones.
The tea recedes in the taste; I’ve had more than a little green tea, and never would have guessed this beer was made with any. But this is decidedly not a typical double IPA, so the tea has evidently affected the brew.
Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout. This one was produced with Troegs Brewing Co. in Harrisburg, Pa., and based on a recipe by Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard, who won Stone’s homebrewing contest.
Chocolate liquer, vanilla beans, and 9,000 pounds of dark cherries went into the brew, and their presence is evident from the first whiff. Black and smoky, the beer (7.3 percent ABV) produces a cappucino-style head, big bubbles and all. A complex aroma of roasted coffee beans, molasses, and cherries rises from the glass. The taste is full of cherries, java, and burnt dark chocolate. There’s a lot going on with this thick, substantial beer.
Sweet on the front end and bitter on the back, Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout provides interesting juxtapositions and immense satisfaction.
I’m excited to get my hands on a couple bottles. More on this once I try them…