Of things Stone

[Beer-lord]

It looks like I'll have a chance to try the Stone Coconut IPA tonite since a friend was able to grab a few. So far, there's no sighting of the 17th Anniversary beer in my area though it is being distributed here. Why things take so long I don't know but it must be the Southern Drawl that causes these problems.

Anyone get a chance to try either of these beers and care to opine?

[jivex5k]

No but I'm very interested in it.
I heard the coconut was subdued.

[Beer-lord]

It appears that this is not the exact recipe that won the 2 guys the chance for Stone to brew their beers. I've read where they are happy with the finished product but hope to one day be able to brew it much closer to the original. So, whatever we enjoy now, is not what got them into the game. Of course, Stone has to put their own label on things.
I think some of the hops used originally were a problem in the quantity they needed but I can't recall what all the reasons were.

[jivex5k]

It appears that this is not the exact recipe that won the 2 guys the chance for Stone to brew their beers. I've read where they are happy with the finished product but hope to one day be able to brew it much closer to the original. So, whatever we enjoy now, is not what got them into the game. Of course, Stone has to put their own label on things.
I think some of the hops used originally were a problem in the quantity they needed but I can't recall what all the reasons were.

Yeah there are always consistency issues when taking a small scale recipe up to that large of a scale.
Our local brewery Funky Buddha is experiencing it.
They have 2 locations now, one that brews small batch and one that is huge... The huge one has trouble getting the nuances of the lounge's special beers right....they taste more artificially flavored and don't seem as robust in general.
I hope they get it right, but I've been disappointed in the direction they are headed. And their berliner-weisse beers keep getting less and less sour........................................
I asked, they said people were complaining they were TOO sour....well, damnit, don't order a freaking berliner dumbo.....

[Kealia]

I hope to be able to add my opinion of these two on Friday, assuming I can still function at that point

[Beer-lord]

Amongst the amountish brews tonite, I partook in a Stone Coconut IPA. I have to say, it's much better than I expected. I'm not a flavor-beer guy but the coconut is hidden but there. You can get a slight hint of it in the aroma and as the beer warms, a slight taste of it then. It's not as hoppy as Enjoy By or Ruin Ten but definitely a good beer.
We have a few more for the weekend so more testing is needed. Sorry, but we already have enough beta testers lined up.

[Kealia]

I'll try the 17th Anniversary if they have it on tap but I'm usually not a huge fan of noble hops in general. But....I'm a sucker for limited editions

[duff]

I haven't been beer shopping in a while. Not sure about the coconut beer but I would like to try the 17th Anniversary and the RuinTen. I keep missing the RuinTen when it comes in stock at the stores in my area.

But I would like to compare the 17th to a batch I did. It was basically an Imperial Pilsner. 8.8% abv with lots of noble hops and dry hopped with noble hops. It was good.

[Beer-lord]

I finally got to try one of the 17th Anniversary brews last night and have a few more to try later. To keep it short, it's pretty good. It definitely reeks of 'Stone' and if blindfolded, I could guess who made it. But, it's clean and crisp, with the bitterness of an IPA and the smoothness of a lager.
It's not their best by far but a damned good beer. I certainly didn't get the 102 IBU's or teh 9.5% ABV taste in this beer so once again, they've done a splendid job of doing something different. Using an ale yeast and not making it an IPL exactly is interesting too.
Not bad for $6.99 a bomber.