Stone Brewing Co. - Götterdämmerung IPA (17th Anniversary IPA)

Hey guys. It's Sunday night and tonight's beer review is a little bittersweet. If you're a fan of craft beer then I'm sure you heard the news about the accident at Stone Brewing on Saturday 8/24. I thought it was only fitting to drink a Stone beer in honor of the Stone family member who lost their life.

So tonight I'm drinking the 17th Anniversary IPA from Stone, their Gotterdammerung IPA. This is a 9.5% abv DIPA that is brewed with German hops and Pilsner malt. Seems totally different than most the other hop bombs Stone is known for. So let's get this one opened and do some drinking.

The Gotterdammerung pours out a nice golden color. A bit darker than a Pilsner. Completely see through with a little bit of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. There was about a finger of a foamy white head. Good retention time and a nice frothy lacing left behind on the glass. This looks like a very refreshing IPA. Let's get the nose.

First thing I pick up is a nice earthy, floral hop bitterness. There's some hints of lemon peel, bitter grapefruit, pine and maybe some ripe peach like characters. I'm picking up some nice grassy notes. But really the floral notes are very much the highlight here. Big and in your face bitterness. Definitely not what I was expecting from this one after what I read about it. I was expecting more of those Pilsner characters. There's a sweet, almost caramel like sweetness lingering about. This is really just a great smelling IPA. Let's see how this one tastes.

Wow. First thing on the Gotterdammerung is a big citrus note. Big orange, tangerine like characters. That's immediately followed up by a big floral bitterness. Earthy, maybe slightly spicy. I swear there's almost like a rye spice in here. Sides of the palate there's that ripe peach juice that just floods the jowls. Back of the palate you get more of that citrus. Grapefruit, lemon bitterness. This beer finishes incredibly dry. For 9.5% there's next to no hint of alcohol. It is so well masked making this a very dangerously drinkable beer.

As the beer warms a bit you get more of the alcohol warmth down the chest. You also get more lemon and lemongrass notes. Very surprising beer and very good.

So overall, this is just an awesome beer. Great hops, great mouth feel. Everything about this beer is fantastic. Stone once again knocks this one out of the park. Get this if you can. It should be available but consider it very limited. Probably a good chance this is the only time we'll see it unless enough of us request it be put back into production.

Rating: A+

Cheers to Stone and cheers to the Stone family during this most difficult time.