Stone Hail to the Hop Thief

Following on from our first Stone Brewing Co. review, we have another. Always the same isn't it? You wait for ages then two come along at once.

When I reviewed Stone Ruination a few days ago I mentioned they liked a good IPA. So with their 21st anniversary in mind it was always a good bet they'd celebrate with a good ol' India Pale Ale. What's a 21st birthday party without good beer?

With Hail to the Hop Thief, they took all of their knowledge of creating kick-ass IPAs and poured it into one celebratory beer. Dry-hopped to the max and unfiltered, Stone wanted it to be as raw an expression of a hopped-up, double IPA as there can be and it's certainly a cracking beer.

Slightly hazier than normal due to being unfiltered, it pours the typical rich golden colour of a DIPA. There's a more complex nose than most IPAs, with citrus and fruit notes joined by sweet and floral aromas. Similarly it has very different layers of taste. More wheaty than malty, with fruit flavours replaced with a good old kick of bitterness from the hop resin. But through all this, it's still quite a well balanced beer, not overly powerful to drink, but still very flavourful. Refreshing, yet you know it's a strong drink. And it is at 9.8%.

Being a limited edition anniversary beer, this one might be a bit difficult to find. We can always hope another batch is released and makes its way here before it disappears. But if you can't find this beer, fear not, there a plenty of other good Double IPAs available including Stone's own Ruination.