Stone R&R Coconut IPA

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 7.7% 
Reported IBUs: 90

Tonight's beer is a collaboration between home brewers Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan (perhaps more famously known as beer reviewer "StumpyJoeJr"), Rip Current brewing, and Mitch Steele of Stone Brewing. About Stone:

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 seem to be continuously expanding 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. I like the cut of his jib, and I always enjoy a good Stone brew. Definitely check out their website for more info.

I do occasionally creep on Ryan's beer reviews, and it's always cool to see someone who is passionate about beer getting a chance to brew a home brew recipe with a big brewery. The Robert & Ryan/Stone/Rip Current Coconut IPA had some help from Paul Sangster, brewer and co-founder of Rip Current Brewing. Rip Current Brewing is a brewery based out of San Marcos, California, founded by Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe in 2011. The R&R also had a helping hand from Stone.

If you roll over to the R&R page, you can get all sorts of info on this beer. Clocking in at 7.7% and packing 90 IBUs, this beer was originally brewed by Robert and Ryan who won Stone's 2013 American Homebrewers Association homebrewing contest. The beer is brewed with 280 pounds of coconut, and a bunch of hops. Described as a tropical IPA, this one should feature lots of stone fruits and toasted coconut. We'll see how the coconut comes through...I wanted to drink this as fresh as I could.

Stone R&R Coconut IPA

The beer pours into an orange body with some gold/yellow tones. I kicked up three fingers of persistent, dense, sticky, off-white head. The head takes on some of the orange. In bright light the beer is a honey-orange color, with a creamy off-white head. There's some nice lacing, and head retention is spot-on for an IPA. There's some fat, lazy carbonation bubbles popping up, and the body looks transparent or semi-transparent.

So...here's where things get dicey. I've read a lot of reivews stating that they couldn't smell or taste the coconut in this beer. That was definitely one of the motivating factors to drink this fresh. When I sniff this beer I'm definitely getting a toasted coconut thing on the nose. This doesn't smell like your typical IPA, that's for sure. But as someone who tries to review these beers in good faith, I honestly don't know if I would peg the aroma as coconut in a blind tasting. You know? That toasted coconut sweetness on the nose also reminds me of caramel, or even bready sweetness ala a Dogfish Head 90. It's a great aroma. I'm also getting A TON of West Coast IPA goodness. There's resinous orange, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, tropical fruits...a touch of lively lemon zest...and a hint of that rind character. It's a great aroma.

I think I get even less coconut in the taste, but I'll sit on it for a few more sips. Right now I'm getting blasted with the huge amount of hops. At 90 IBUs and 7.7%, I almost hesitate to call this an IPA. In fact, Mr. Sangster of Rip Current is a BJCP wizard, so surely he would judge this as an Imperial IPA or specialty beer, right? There's definitely a non-hop edge to this beer, which -- again -- I might not single out as coconut in a blind tasting. It's like a caramel or toasted grain sweetness. There's also a ton of tropical fruits, pineapple, mango, apricot, resinous orange, resinous grapefruit, and some woody rind towards the back end. It's very much a West Coast IPA.

This is a great IPA, and I would buy this again if it was brewed again. I bet this is even better on tap...and I bet this would be fun to infuse with coconut on the tap, ala the Randall. I wonder how something like this would taste with some bourbon soaked chips. I know bourbon barrel-aged Tripels take on that bright coconut flavor. Would that work here? This is a big IPA, with a medium-full to full-bodied mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is sticky and resinous, but supported by some nice, creamy carbonation. Palate depth is good, and complexity is above-average. It's a nice West Coast IPA. You get some malt thickness and coconut up front; that rolls into big tropical fruits and citrus hops; the back end starts with sweeter citrus, but rolls into some rind, and you pick up lots of resinous wood and bitterness on the back. The finish is dry. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Stong Above-Average. I like the hint of coconut in this, and the beer itself is a great example of a West Coast IPA. For me, I'm getting more coconut in the aroma than in the taste. Interestingly, this has a "best by date" of 10/15/13. That seems...a bit far out, to be honest. I'd prefer this fresh. There's a lot of hop kick in this, and the beer has a full body to back it. You could pair this beer with some aggressively spicy foods. I would pair this beer with some mango habanero wings, some spicy jerk chicken, spicy pineapple pork/chicken, or something with a spicy edge. I do get tropical vibes from this beer, and this is a great summer IPA/IIPA. Good job and cheers.

Random Thought: I had sushi this weekend, and it was da bomb. The best part about sushi is you can eat sooooo much food, and you never feel stuffed. I also drank one too many Sakes, but what can you do. Sake + sushi = heaven.