Stone Brewing ‘Ghost Hammer’ IPA

Rating:

21317914_744964609021020_4617824783405349794_n“Most areas of the brewery are dark or in shadows. Throughout the night the cellars resonate with the occasional knocking of expanding and contracting pipes. It can be a bit spooky to hear the brewery creak and groan as if possessed by a spirit randomly knocking about with a mallet. This IPA, liberally hopped with Loral™, honors our intrepid overnight team by naming it after their mischievous poltergeist companion – the Ghost Hammer.”

Served in an IPA glass. We see a hazy golden orange hue that’s covered by a thumb of puffy white foam. Head retention is good and lacing is even better.
Most notable on the nose would be its citrus and floral orange blossom characters but there is also a healthy dose of fruits like pineapple, blood orange and melon. Getting a kind of candied lemon scent along with pine, subtle spice and a light biscuity/honey malt at the base.
The flavour takes on a bit of a pithy and somewhat acidic grapefruit flavour upfront. A bit of that floral and candied orange getting amongst it as it moves in to a spicy note through the mid. Dry, a little acrid and bitter in the finish with a lingering grapefruit flavour in the tail.
Crisp, snappy and sharp in the mouth. The 6.7% ABV creeps up as the 56 IBU is quite well presented. Moderate body and co2.
Another fine offering from this super consistent brewery. It’s a slight step up from your intermediate style IPA’s without being a full on palate wrecker. Quality stuff – what we’ve come to expect from Stone.