Over the past few years, I’ve been becoming more involved with the craft beer movement in the Twin Cities. Almost from day one of my journey into craft beer, friends and mentors of mine in the craft beer scene speculated about the day Stone Brewing Company‘s brews would eventually be available in Minnesota. I waited nearly two years until I realized I could make a jaunt to Hudson and find a few year-round varietals from the fabled southern California juggernaut. Fast forward to the first weeks of 2011, when Stone announced it would be entering the North Star State, in partnership with Original Gravity. I smiled a bit, knowing that Minnesotans are finally able to enjoy the fine beers from Stone, without having to cross the border.
The first beer I decided to review after the announcement and arrival of Stone is the Cali-België (also known as Cali-Belgique) IPA. According to Stone:
“When reading the name “Stone Cali-Belgique IPA”, “Cali” hints that it is a California-style IPA, and this brew has an undeniable Belgian influence, indicated by the word “Belgique” (which is how Belgium’s French-speaking population says the word “Belgian”; the Dutch-speaking Belgians say “België”). We carefully selected a Belgian yeast strain that illuminates a fascinating new aspect of the beer that is otherwise quite simply Stone IPA. The result is both completely new and different, while still being recognizable as a Stone brew—and Stone IPA in particular. Think of it as an otherwise identical twin to Stone IPA that was raised in a Belgian culture. Literally.”
A quick rundown on a few key facts for Cali-België:
Style: India Pale Ale ABV: 6.9% IBU: 77 Hop varieties: Columbus, Chinook, and Centennial First released: August 2008
Stone Cali-België IPA
(As with most reviews we post here, I try to loosely stick to the form for a BJCP review.)
Appearance The Cali-België poured with a bright amber/copper body and a rocky, but quickly-fading, white head. The beer has striking clarity, and carbonation appears normal.
Aroma As aroma is the most fleeting aspect of a beer, I try to make a note of how a beer smells immediately after pouring into the glass. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I tried to avoid checking reviews and comments on the beer to prevent myself from establishing how someone else interpreted the beer. I found myself drawing close comparisons to the Belgian dubbel style (BJCP category 18B), with initial floral, clove notes. As the beer warmed slightly, and the head subsided, the bouquet opened a bit, and the stronger clove notes faded, leading to a bread-like aroma. Although pleasant, it is not quite the potent, resinous, aromatic hop attack I expected when I opened an IPA. I wasn’t put off, however; I really enjoy Belgian beers, enough to have made a trip to Brussels during my honeymoon. Whereas most people expecting an American IPA, or as I like to refer to the style–IPA 2.0– may be slightly confused.
Flavor The aroma of cloves and fresh-baked bread continues as I sampled the beer. I sampled the beer over a fifteen minute person, allowing it to warm to near room temperature. After that time, I did not notice any increase in hop flavor, like that one would normally anticipate in an IPA. The beer has a sweeter, more balanced finish, lacking the strong bitterness often present with an aggressive IPA.
Mouthfeel The Cali-België does differ from its Belgian peers in that the beer is thinner than some examples of the dubbel style. In contrast to an IPA, my tongue did not have the aggressive, hop-forward palette attack normally present. The finish is smooth and far from astringent.
Overall Occasionally, I find myself sitting with a Belgian dubbel during the fall and winter months, savoring the beer as a nightcap. This beer, however, does not need to be savored. It’s very quenching, and I was able to drink a good portion of the bomber right away, because the body was lighter, and the ABV a bit lower than a beer meant to be savored. Throughout the review, I kept struggling with the notion this beer is branded as an IPA. The Stone crew are quick to point out on the bottle, however, that this is literally the same recipe as their IPA, the only difference being the Belgian yeast strain they used for fermentation.
It’s amazing how much of a different finished product one can experience when only changing a single variable. If you’re a hop head, this might be a fun reprieve from your typical palette-crushing IPAs. If you are not (yet) an IPA enthusiast, this is a much more approachable means to move forward into the style.
Stone’s Cali-België IPA was a fun beer to try. It’s nice to throw your palette a curveball once in a while. I went into the beer expecting a typical, aggressively-hopped, West Coast IPA, but I ended up drawing parallels between the IPA style and the Belgian dubbel style. Check out this Periodic Table of Beer Styles to see how close the two styles are (at least by the numbers).
Thanks to Randy Clemens at Stone Brewing for providing me this sample.
During the month of February, many Twin Cities craft beer scene enthusiasts began seeing the #MNCleanPint hashtag explode in their Twitter feeds. The friendly competition, no doubt inspired by a Cicerone or two here in the Twin Cities, was meant to increase visibility of bars with “beer clean” glassware.
Last Sunday, a friend of mine posted on Twitter that he was frustrated by an experience he had while at a restaurant at the Mall of America. He was put off by a “buttery” flavor in the pint of beer he ordered. This “buttery” off-flavor found in beer, known chemically as diacetyl, is a natural byproduct of fermentation, which at high levels, can impart a buttery flavor. However, this buttery off-flavor can sometimes be attributed to unclean draft lines. After posting a few responses to my friend Scott’s unfortunate experience, Dave Berg–brewer at Schell’s Brewery in New Ulm–inspired me to establish a new hashtag, in the spirit of the #MNcleanpint competition, that addresses my friend’s frustration. read more…
Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City, Missouri has a wonderful series of beers that they call the Smokestack Series. The “Smokestacks” are typically limited release beers that come in 750ml bottles. For me, they represent some of the most innovative beers available in the Midwest. Last year I fell in love with the Bourbon Barrel Quad (BBQ for short) release – a heavy, cherry-like, boozy, close to 12% delicious beer. Boulevard changed-up their recipe, and how they blend their beers together for this year’s release. Jason and I decided it was time to revisit the BBQ because of this heard change. Additionally, to create a good side-by-side conversation, Jason and I brought out a Rye on Rye from last year – Boulevard’s rye wine aged on Templeton Rye barrels. If you like barrel-aged beers, jump in to the conversation. Cheers! read more…
It’s the second of our recordings from the weekend that belonged to Darkness Day. Again, this meet-up presented an opportunity for Jason, Mike and Shawn to record together. On this occasion, the three hosts and guests discuss Darkness Day as well as review three different beers.
Our first review is of the beer Rosé De Gambrinus, a Fruit Lambic from Brasserie Cantillon of Anderlecht, Belgium. While these beers can be aged for up to 10 years, they were chosen by the brewmaster as ready to drink now. This style beer is a Gueuze with fruit added during fermentation, and in this case raspberries are used.
Our second beer is the Fifteen Anniversary Ale from Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado. The Anniversary Ales from Avery are typically “wild and weird”. These are one-off beers that are meant to be aged.
Our third beer is 2010 iteration of the infamous Darkness from Surly Brewing Company of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. For the past few years, this beer has been primarily for sale on the brewery premises during Darkness Day. Spoiler Alert. This is a tremendous beer that’s ready to drink now.
I can’t remember where I saw this beer styles chart floating around on the internet, since I originally saw it posted on imgur.com. I found it very useful when learning to compare beer styles. I am posting it again in order to share it with my friends learning about different sub-styles of beer, and also with the hope that someone can help it to be properly attributed to its creator.
What is your favorite beer style? Currently, mine is a toss-up between gueuze and American wild ale.
