Like many of you, I love a great Stone IPA. Their Ruination 10th Anniversary was a pure gem and the 16th Anniversary wasn’t bad either. Well, about a month ago, they announced a beer that not only sounded great, but had some tight restrictions when it comes to consumption. Here is the official word from Stone.
While freshness is a key component of many beers – especially big, citrusy, floral IPAs – we’ve taken it further, a lot further, in this IPA. You see, we specifically brewed it NOT to last. We’ve not only gone to extensive lengths to ensure that you’re getting this beer in your hands within an extraordinarily short window, we made sure that the Enjoy By date isn’t randomly etched in tiny text somewhere on the label, to be overlooked by all but the most attentive of retailers and consumers. Instead, we’ve sent a clear message with the name of the beer itself that there is no better time than right now to enjoy this IPA.
I got an email this weekend letting me know that ‘Enjoy By’ is finally heading to Ohio, and while I have no idea what parts of Ohio, if it’s not here soon, like really soon, it’s gonna be past the 9/21 deadline. And actually, if you visit the official page for the beer, you come across this image.
Well, I did a little digging after seeing that and apparently Ohio gets in on the next batch, which will be called ‘Enjoy By 11.09.12′ with the early October release date like you see above.
Here are the hoppy details…
Hopping, as might be expected, was over the top. First, the brew was mash hopped with Calypso, a beautiful fruity hop that we also used in our Stone 16th Anniversary IPA, after which we kettle hopped with a very small dose of Super Galena hop extract for bittering. Then, using a technique . . . that some in homebrew circles call “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. Motueka, Citra, 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 1lb per barrel EACH of New Zealand Nelson Sauvin and Australian Galaxy.
