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Last year I stumbled across a brew that for the first time in a long time actually knocked me back. But the beer at the time could be found nowhere outside on tap at a couple of our local places, that changed this year. That beer was the Mocha IPA from Stone Brewing, but you knew that already since you’re reading or watching this review. Which if you are not watching right now but want to go ahead and do so, then just go ahead and hit play on the YouTube video attached here in the post. But if you do want to read a little about my view then let us continue.
Appearance:
Beginning with appearance, there is no disappointment with this one that I have seen whether on draft or out of the bottle. Since we are talking about the bottled version, I will just stick to this version. The beer itself poured a brilliant sunset amber orange color in my opinion and was capped nicely with a large foamy bone white head. I didn’t pour too aggressive, but ended up with about a three or 4 figure one but it all settled in nicely. It was easy to catch all of the nice bubble action taking place as the bubbles streamed up the glass. During my tasting of the beverage there was a fair amount of lacing that also took place, although not as much as I anticipated.
Aroma:
As far as aroma on the beer, this is where this one really gets interesting. The notes received from the ale brought up the imagery of an IPA meeting Stout. I received good notes of chocolate and coffee much like a stout, but there was also a lovely spice kick in there kind of like a peppery type feel which I wasn’t expecting but did enjoy.
Flavor / Palate:
So now it was time for the tasting portion and seeing how it felt on the palate as well as enjoying the flavor that may be offered. Now as I mentioned, it is a Double IPA so it did have a moderate amount of bitterness in the initial and finish but not as much as I imagined for the 80 IBU level. There was some throat scraping on the swallow, but nothing that was overly heavy. The texture was nice and dry with some good carbonation, but it wasn’t over carbonated. A full body beer for sure and there was some astringency as well, and in the end the finish had a nice amount of duration.
Overall Summary:
The Mocha IPA is really a beauty of a beer and brings a lot to the table, as I did really enjoy some of its complexities. It is also one that shakes up the rather overloaded IPA style and says hey, we are not the same which is something that Stone has seemed to be doing for a good amount of time. And for someone like me who likes IPA’s and Stouts, this is a perfect colliding of worlds and is why I rated this on my personal Untappd score as 5 out of 5. I will enjoy this one for seasons to come.
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