Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 22oz bottle from Binny's in Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Belgian IPA, 6.9% 

 

It's been a while since I've had a Belgian IPA. The last two I reviewed were Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale and New Belgium's Belgo. Belgian IPAs are a newer style of beer that is being brewed by a large number of brewers, mostly from America and Belgium. This style of beer combines American hops with Belgian yeast, to create a beer that has citrus and floral flavors, along with those big Belgian yeast notes and Belgian spice. Many Belgian IPAs are bottle conditioned, and this style is typically clean, bitter, and dry; it should have a fairly high ABV; and should have many IPA qualities, like a solid head with good lacing. I'm a big fan of this style, and look forward to Stone's take on it.

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer.

If you check out the Cali-Belgique page, you can get the basic information for this beer. Apparently, "Belgique" is how Belgium's French-speaking peeps say the word "Belgian." The Dutch say "België." This beer uses a Belgian yeast strain, and is basically Stone's IPA brewed with that yeast strain. Clocking in at 6.9% ABV, and packing 77 IBUs, this beer uses Columbus (pleasant, pungent), Chinook (spicy, piney, grapefruit), and Centennial (floral, citrus) hops.

My bottle says: "Enjoy til 12/29/12." So it should be good. With that said...into the glass....and on with my thoughts.

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA (Cali-België)

The beer pours a golden-bronze color, almost like apple juice, with 2 to 3 finger's worth of white, fluffly head. The head is really hanging around, as several minutes later there is still one finger of fluffy head on this. You see a lot of carbonation, in the form of a constant stream of small to mid-sized bubbles. When held to bright light, this is a filtered and clear yellow/gold beer; just a touch darker than a Pilsner or American Lager. The head is creamy and thick, and pulling on the glass leaving some nice lacing. [You get some really nice lacing on this as you drink your way down.]

The aroma on this is absolutely stellar, with big Belgian funk up front, and lots of fresh hop aromas. I get Belgian yeast, hay, barnyard, bubble gum, some vanilla and clove spice, citrus, oranges, and some slightly resiny pine. There is maybe a hint of peppery spice. Overall, the nose is really pleasant, funky, and hoppy.

The taste on this is fairly bitter and hoppy up front, with lots of fresh citrus, lemon, orange, and sweeter and less bitter grapefruit. There's maybe some resinous pine, and the whole thing is very clean. You do get some peppery spice in here, likely from the yeast. Around all the hop freshness is some Belgian funk, with some hints of clove, barnyard, and fruity Belgian yeast notes.

This has a champagne-like dryness about it, and it drinks sort of like a champagne with a lot of bubbly carbonation, and big dryness. Overall, this is super clean, refreshing, and drinkable stuff. At 6.9% ABV, this is big enough to probably stand up to some intense food, and the hops and champagne-dryness will provide a great palate cleanser. This has a medium-light mouthfeel, with superb palate depth, and moderate complexity. Up front I get refreshing, carbonation, light hoppiness (earthy, floral, pleasant citrus); the middle rolls into some Belgian funk and peppery spice, resiny pine, more bitter citrus; the back end is peppery spice, hop dryness, pine, slight resin, dryness.

Rating: Above-Average

This is easily a Strong Above-Average for. This is a really well done Belgian IPA...and while it's not lifting my skirt up for its complexity, it absolutely smashes balance and drinkability. This is such a refreshing beer, and it doesn't overdo it with the peppery spice or the hoppiness. At 6.9% ABV...this just coats the mouth with hop goodness, and leaves some Belgian funk as well. Really, you can't go wrong with this beer, and you should definitely check it out. As far as food pairings? Pizza, a burger, a chicken sandwich...anything that goes well with pepper, really. You could even put this with some spicy pasta, or even some Chinese food. If you haven't snagged a bottle of this beer, definitely check it out.

I will state: this is a "fridge" beer. That is, this is a beer you always want in your fridge. It really has that level of drinkability and accessibility, and you can happily pair this beer with a wide variety of foods. I find that many of Stone's beers are "fridge" beers. Fortunately, Stone's beer are usually in stock everywhere, so you can typically buy them on a moment's notice.

Lastly...for a 77 IBU beer, this is not that bitter. Maybe I've just spoiled my palate with all those crazy-ass, extreme Imperial IPAs. Oh well.