In what has become an annual affair, Stone released their 16th Anniversary IPA this summer. Loaded with lots of rye, but according to them not enough to warrant the “Rye IPA” name, this Double IPA also features Amarillo and Calypso hops. Finished with lemon verbena and European specialty malts, this one sounded intriguing enough to peak my interest (and Stone rarely lets me down).

From the bottle, the 16th Anniversary appears fairly clear with an amber/copper colored body. This is topped by a creamy, bubbly off-white one finger head. The lacing is pretty good as well, bringing nice amounts of retention on the surface. Big citrus hops, lemon and orange oil, and sweet sugary malts lead the aromas. It sort of reminded me of a sugar-coated orange slice candy with touches of floral hops.

The palate has more lemon and orange oil up front, almost as if this were some sort of extract – very potent. Citrus, floral and a dash of piney hops are on the mid to back of the taste, leaving the finish fairly bitter into the linger. It feels just a bit thin, though it does have a nice creaminess for the style. Easy drinking with a small amount of alcohol.

This was a nice beer but the oils just were a bit too much at times I felt. If those could have been dialed back a bit to let more of the rich malts and floral hops come out, this would be a big winner.

Rating

84
out of 100