Stone Brewing

Why it matters

Made hop bitterness a positive selling point rather than something to apologise for, at a moment when American drinkers were being asked to move from adjunct lager to something at ten times the IBU.

Details

Reference beers

• Stone IPA6.9% ABV

  A defining West Coast IPA, and one of the beers that made assertive bitterness a selling point rather than an apology.

BeerHQ carries only the products that anchor something. This is not the brewery’s full range.

Styles it is associated with

• West Coast IPA — The dry, clear, aggressively bitter interpretation of American IPA, built on pine and grapefruit with the malt stripped right back.
• American IPA — The defining modern craft beer: intense citrus, tropical and resinous hop aroma over a lean malt base, finishing firmly bitter.

Traditions

• American craft brewing — The post-1980 American movement built on intense hop character, reinterpretation of European styles, and rapid categorical change.