Stone IPA Clone Comparison - You pick the real one!

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EdWort

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I brewed an All Grain Stone IPA Clone back on March 20th. Today, I put a cobra tap on the keg in my keezer in the garage for a taste as well as to compare to a chilled Stone IPA just purchased 15 minutes ago.

My beer was dry hopped by dropping a stainless herb ball containing 1 oz. of Centennial into the keg on May 15th. I compared the two and my beer has a much better nose and hop taste. The real Stone actually tastes a bit sweeter.

Guess which one is the Real Stone IPA.

4569-IPA.jpg


Mine is on the right. The left was a bad bottle of Stone.
 
Not saying till we get as many posts as in my Apfelwein thread......Just kidding. :D

I'll wait till we get some more guesses. Perhaps tomorrow. In the mean time, I'm gonna enjoy my kick ass IPA, my first beer after my liver had a 3 week vacation (Doctors bloodwork came back normal).
 
EdWort said:
Not saying till we get as many posts as in my Apfelwein thread......Just kidding. :D

I'll wait till we get some more guesses. Perhaps tomorrow. In the mean time, I'm gonna enjoy my kick ass IPA, my first beer after my liver had a 3 week vacation (Doctors bloodwork came back normal).
I'm glad to hear your tests came back OK. :mug:
The least you could do is give us a taste test of the two so we can compare. :D
 
At first look I would have to go with RichBrewer and say left, but since I think this may be a trick I vote the one on the right.
 
I don't want to offend in any way, but I'm presuming the one on the left is yours...if you got a bottled Stone IPA that's that cloudy (or maybe it's the lighting?), there's something wrong with it.

Which isn't meant to imply that there's something wrong with it if it's yours :D
 
I cast my vote for the one on the right -- that is one very nice, thick, creamy head there. Gotta be homebrew.

Regardless, both look good!
 
FlyGuy said:
I cast my vote for the one on the right -- that is one very nice, thick, creamy head there. Gotta be homebrew.

Regardless, both look good!
One on the right, his Haus APA is crystal clear so I wouldn't assume he would have haze issues.


Dan
 
The one on the right looks like 12oz in a pint glass so I'd guess the one on the right is the real Stone. :)
 
Voting for the one on the left as your's just because of the slight Chill haze, just needs a couple more days in the keg and you won't be able to telll the diference. I bet it tastes great, love me some Stone Beer.
Cheers
 
I've seen how nicely your beers clear up Ed. I've also seen how lame the commercial head retention is so I'm going with the one on the right.

How was the taste. I've got to get my first IPA under my belt and I'm torn betwen the DFH60 and this recipe (Stone Ruination is it?)
 
BierMuncher said:
How was the taste. I've got to get my first IPA under my belt and I'm torn betwen the DFH60 and this recipe (Stone Ruination is it?)

Mine is fricking awsome! It's actually a Stone IPA Clone, but it tastes more like the Ruination. Much better than the real thing. I'm so stoked, I'm brewing it again tomorrow.
Here's the recipe.

Single infusion 60 minutes at 153 degrees.

10.5# Pale
1# Munich
1# Crystal 20L

1 oz. Warrior 60 minutes
1 oz. Centennial 15 minutes
1 oz. Centennial 5 minutes

Dry Yeast - Safale US-05

O.G. 1.066
F.G. 1.010

Dry Hop with 1 oz. Centennial. The stainless herb ball in the keg works great!
 
Yours is on the left, the real Stone is on the right, by clarity and volume reasons stated previously.
 
"...You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"


Seriously I think it's the one on the left.
 
You said that you had it on tap and the Stone was from a bottle.. My guess is that yours is on the right. The head looks to me to be like a draft head. :rockin:
 
Ok guys,

Mine is on the right and the real Stone is on the left. I could not believe how cloudy the Stone is, so much so, I just bought another bottle to do another test this afternoon...., you know, just to be sure. Yeah, that's it. Quality control. :D

I'll post another pic from the second test. Different glasses this time though.

Thanks to all those who played "Let's Pick the Clone"

Now if it would stop raining, I could brew some beer.
 
EdWort said:
Ok guys,

Mine is on the right and the real Stone is on the left. I could not believe how cloudy the Stone is, so much so, I just bought another bottle to do another test this afternoon...., you know, just to be sure. Yeah, that's it. Quality control. :D

I'll post another pic from the second test. Different glasses this time though.

Damn, that is one fine looking brew Ed! I still can't figure out what's up with that Stone, though. I've never seen a commercial beer that cloudy. The bottled Stone IPAs I've had recently all looked ...well, like your HB version!
 
Bike N Brew said:
Damn, that is one fine looking brew Ed! I still can't figure out what's up with that Stone, though. I've never seen a commercial beer that cloudy. The bottled Stone IPAs I've had recently all looked ...well, like your HB version!

Thanks. I was surprised too. That's one reason for test number 2.
 
I think the store passed me a bad Stone in my first test. I went to my local grocery store and picked up another Stone IPA for this test. It looks much better. My beer is on the right.

4569-IPA2.jpg


As far as aroma & taste go, this time I can't really tell the difference except mine is a shade darker in color. This recipe from AHS is pretty much spot on IMHO.
 
talleymonster said:
"...You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"


Princess Bride was a great movie
 
Ed that looks fantastic.

So you say that your beer tastes much more like the second Stone? I think I'm going to have to give this one a try here in a bit.
 
I saved your recipe from a previous thread and will be brewing this down the road..Stone IPA is definitely one of my favorites.
 
Rook said:
Ed that looks fantastic.

So you say that your beer tastes much more like the second Stone? I think I'm going to have to give this one a try here in a bit.

Yeah, in my second test, SWMBO could not tell the difference. That first bottle was a bad beer. Strange. Obviously, buying the second bottle from a grocery store that moves a bunch of Stone was the way to go.

My only way to tell the difference is the color. Mine is a shade darker. I might have some more fun with this and some friends using plastic cups for a true blind taste test.
 
Alright...So I was fortunate enough to swap few beers with EdWort and of course when he rattled off his list of available brews...I jumped on the chance to try the Stone Clone. For one thing...I'm just starting to dive into the world of IPA's so what better way to go than trying a fellow homebrewers clone of one of the pinnacles of the IPA world.

The UPS box showed up at around noon. My SWMBO had instructions to open the box and get those brews (I also got a Kolsch) into the fridge. After work tonight I had an obligation to go out to dinner with the in-laws so the beer would have to wait. I only had one beer at dinner...a Bass Ale. (I had to compare a commercial draft to my clone...pretty damn close).

So we get home about 9:00 and I have a few beer chores to do so finally, about 10:45PM, it's time to crack the 22 Oz'r open.

Pop the top...nice phsssst and a nice cloud of CO2 inside the neck of the bottle.

Take a whiff out of the bottle and WOW...nice hit of malt aroma, followed immediatley by the mid-tone tang of the hops. Now I don't know what hops go into this beer...but the smell is absolutely inviting.

Pour into a cold (not frosted) 16 Oz glass...nice amber/pale ale color...super clear and just a slight head that cascaded to about 1/4 inch. Took another whiff and wow..."so this is what an IPA is all about".

It's time. First a slight sip..then and nice cold gulp. The malt profile hits you right where it feels best and that whish of citrus from the hops is right behind it. It had a nice amount of bitterness that really grabs your attention...but was completely balanced by the heavier malt tones.

All I could do was sit down...look at the beer and wonder how to pay homage to a great beer so here I am....

Get the recipe below and BREW IT.

I've already place my order at MidWest for a 10-gallon batch.

Oh yeah...the buzz???? Priceless.

Good job Ed.
 
BierMuncher said:
Get the recipe below and BREW IT.

Thanks for the great review. I only brewed it. So the carbonation level was OK?

The recipe came from one of the thousands at Austin Home Brew. Here you go.

5 Gallons of Stone IPA Clone

Single infusion 60 minutes at 153 degrees.

10.5# Pale
1# Munich
1# Crystal 20L

1 oz. Warrior 60 minutes
1 oz. Centennial 15 minutes
1 oz. Centennial 5 minutes

Dry Yeast - Safale US-05

O.G. 1.066
F.G. 1.010

Dry Hop with 1 oz. Centennial. The stainless herb ball in the keg works great!
 
Orpheus said:
I brewed this Ed, but doubled the hops. The wort tasted awesome, this may end up being a new fave!:mug:

The base recipe is already 93 IBUs...don't you kinda go past the point of amount/benefits by doubling?
 
brewt00l said:
The base recipe is already 93 IBUs...don't you kinda go past the point of amount/benefits by doubling?

I'm not a stock brewer. I don't like to keep anything on hand. I order what I need and what I don't use normally gets trashed, so I've developed this habit of ordering as close to exact amounts as possible and then adding any leftovers. I could only find 2 oz. bags of Warrior hops and a 4oz. bag of Cent. I love the hops, so I have no problem using them. I'd rather do that than let them sit in my fridge for a year.
 
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