Stone Brewing Company Enjoy By 4.20.15 American IPA at 9.4% ABV (C$10.26 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650 ml, best before 20-Apr-2015)
Pours clear pale gold with two fingers of white head diminishing gradually to a thin cap, spotty lacing. (4/5) Nose is pine resin, caramel malt, light boozy stone fruit. (9/10) Taste is mild sweet, strong bitter. (9/10) Medium to full body, moderate carbonation, lingering bitter finish. (4/5)
Don’t tell me how to live my life, bottle! (Again.) You’re not the boss of me! You’re also not the most impressive of the Enjoy By series, so I don’t see where you get off, being all demanding. “Devastatingly dank”? Nope, sorry. Gotta count this as a little bit of a swing and a miss for Stone. (But if we’re being honest, only a little.) I was expecting true West Coast dank from the 4.20 – for obvious, if somewhat sophomoric, reasons – and though it’s nice, it’s not legen-wait-for-it-dary. Not malt-forward, perhaps, but malt-emphatic, for sure. Hey, I drank it the day I got it, that’s as fresh as I could do – what do you want from me? But I don’t think it’s really an age issue. Damn nice, but not quite up to the bar set by the previous iterations. (18/20)
9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
