Stone Brewing Enjoy By 02.14.17

Beer Name: Enjoy By 02.14.17 Chocolate and Coffee IPA
Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA)
ABV: 9.4%
How sold: Six-packs of 12 oz. bottles; 22 oz bottles; on draft
Where bought: Total Wine & More (Vancouver, WA)
Price: $3.49 for 12 oz. bottle

Bottled on Date: January 8, 2017
Date Purchased: February 11, 2017
Date Opened/Drank: February 12, 2017
IBUs: 90

What's on the Label/Website: "It’s not unusual to see pronouncements of 'I Heart Hops,' 'I Heart Chocolate' or 'I Heart Coffee' throughout #socialmedia, printed on T-shirts and, natch, emblazoned on coffee cups. Over the past couple of decades we have helped add 'I Freaking Heart IPAs' to that lexicon. Today, passionate people can’t imagine a world without all of the above. For this special edition, we added chocolate and coffee to make this devastatingly fresh IPA even more seductive to the palate. We humbly suggest that you use this libation to proclaim your love for someone... and we suggest that someone be you. Loving yourself is exactly what this libation is all about. Love now; remember forever." Read more here!

When brewed? One-time batch. Stone Brewing makes fresh batches of a different "Enjoy By" beer for various special dates. Look for more information here!

Where distributed: Stone Brewing shipped this beer to 35 U.S. states, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. It was NOT distributed to Oregon, but I snagged a bottle in Washington. Check to see whether this beer could be found in your area!

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured clear golden into a pint glass. Frothy white head; very trace lacing. 4.5/5

Smell (25%): Mostly tropical grapefruit and stone fruit, with complementing malt and slight dankness. It may be a "Chocolate and Coffee India Pale Ale," but it smells every part of a regular (and tasty) West Coast IPA. 4.5/5

Taste (40%): A burst of tropical hop to start. Notes of chocolate toward the middle and more of the coffee on the aftertaste, but nothing that disrupts the usual West Coast IPA experience. Some dankness. Drinks easy and considered dangerous. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-full bodied; significant carbonation. Perhaps slightly richer than other beers in the series, but if so, it's not much more. Very slightly dry on the tongue as the citrus bitterness lingers. 4.5/5

Overall (20%): An outstanding Double IPA. I was initially skeptical on getting this, as the thought of a chocolate and coffee IPA didn't appeal to me. Curiosity got the better of me a few days before Valentine's Day, and the experience was far better than expected. It's predominantly a solid IPA experience one would get from a Stone Brewing IPA, and while you'll get that chocolate and coffee, it's relegated to a very minor cast role. This is definitely an IPA, and a great one. Perhaps this will entice me to try more "coffee IPAs" in the future. 4.5/5

Final Weighted Rating: 4.5/5