Stone Cali-Belgique IPA

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
DannPM

DannPM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Messages
1,867
Reaction score
25
Location
Pittsburg
So I got one of these, being a big Belgian fan, the other night. I expected a hoppy beer, it's a Cali-style IPA. I did however expect it to be at least semi Belgian tasting with that in its name.

This thing tasted like a regular Cali-style IPA, they may have used Belgian yeast, but there is no possible way you can perceive any of those kind of notes with the gross amount of hops they decided to use. They could have even used the funkiest, most potent strain of Brettanomyces alongside a myriad of beer-spoiling bugs and I bet you still couldn't taste any of those things over these hops!

Just had to rant about this. If you're using a style's name as what part of the beer tastes like, you just kind of expect it to be a part of it.
 
I gotta disagree with you. I've had Cali-Belgique several times and I like it. It tastes like an IPA but you can definitely taste that belgian yeast.
 
Thehopguy said:
I gotta disagree with you. I've had Cali-Belgique several times and I like it. It tastes like an IPA but you can definitely taste that belgian yeast.
Click to expand...

I don't think it was bad, it was a good beer. I think I may be sensitive to hop flavor because I couldn't taste any Belgian character through those hops.
 
See, I accidentally bought it not realizing it was using Belgian yeast. I HATED IT, and had to dump most of it out. I absolutely love IPAs, but Belgians are my least favorite style of beer.
 
I didn't care for it too much. I'm not much of a fan of the Belgians. What I took away from it was a very hoppy Belgian.
 
I loved this beer. IPAs and Belgians being my two favorite beer styles, it's a match made in heaven.

No doubt hoppy, but I still loved the subtle Belgian character in it.

A+ from me, but this debate shows why there are tons of kinds of beer on the market. ;)
 
Was my least favorite out of the bombers i sampled.Self rightous was incredible. I do like belgians but this type of belgian, i dont know.. maybe can grow on me but ill take a piraat over it.
 
DannPM said:
So I got one of these, being a big Belgian fan, the other night. I expected a hoppy beer, it's a Cali-style IPA. I did however expect it to be at least semi Belgian tasting with that in its name.

This thing tasted like a regular Cali-style IPA, they may have used Belgian yeast, but there is no possible way you can perceive any of those kind of notes with the gross amount of hops they decided to use. They could have even used the funkiest, most potent strain of Brettanomyces alongside a myriad of beer-spoiling bugs and I bet you still couldn't taste any of those things over these hops!

Just had to rant about this. If you're using a style's name as what part of the beer tastes like, you just kind of expect it to be a part of it.
Click to expand...

I think you are pretty close to Stone's description of the beer. Stone describes it as the same ingredients as Stone IPA with only a different yeast.

http://www.stonebrew.com/cali/

I don't think they are trying to fool anyone.
 
Side by side tasting (Stone IPA -Cali-Belgique) and feel the Belgian yeast is far too muted for my taste.



Viven Imperial IPA , Troubadour Magma IPA are both far better Westcoast style IPA`s and yet show Belgian flare.
 
kjjohns5 said:
Cali-Belgique is awesome. You can definitely tell that it's a Belgian yeast strain.
Click to expand...

I agree totally. To me it's the best of both world. Stone Ipa with some Belgian yeast notes.

I have a buddy who tends to brew all his IPA this way (he didn't even know there was a style) he just like Belgian yeasts and lots of hops. So his beers tend to have this distinctive taste to them.
 
I liked it a lot! Very interesting, and I could definitely taste the Belgian yeast. Maybe some people are less sensitive to certain flavors. I thought it was a perfect balance between the bitter and yeast. I'd say the yeast was not over powering, but more than noticeable
 
Ok- I had this for the first time yesterday after randomly seeing it... It's Amazing. It may be my new favourite...
 
Revvy said:
I agree totally. To me it's the best of both world. Stone Ipa with some Belgian yeast notes.

I have a buddy who tends to brew all his IPA this way (he didn't even know there was a style) he just like Belgian yeasts and lots of hops. So his beers tend to have this distinctive taste to them.
Click to expand...

I think I may start brewing my ipa like this as well. I love a hoppy Belgian. I just brewed a Belgian dubbel but added extra hops to make it taste a little more like this. I hope it turns out similar to this.
 
DannPM said:
now THIS is a Belgian IPA (Boulevard's Collaboration No 2 White IPA). Drinking it now, utterly amazing, Belgian IPA done right.
Click to expand...

That's pretty funny... I've had both, and I think if Cali Belgique is too Cali, then Collaboration 2 is too Belgique. I didn't get a whole lot of "IPA" from that beer. It was tasty, just not hop-forward in my opinion. Don't know how old my bottle was, though.
 
I've since gained appreciation for ultra hoppy beers, and furthered my tasting abilities; this is an outdated opinion from me in this thread lol.
 

Similar threads

P
What happened to IPA?
2
Replies
49
Views
3K
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
Two Hearted IPA
2
Replies
52
Views
4K
faithie999
F
Brooothru
How Should I Submit This Beer Under BJCP Style Guidelines?
Replies
13
Views
1K
Brooothru
Brooothru
Clint Yeastwood
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
Replies
4
Views
2K
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
N
Scaling American IPA to Double IPA regarding Bitterness: Focus on Absolute IBUs vs BU:GU ratio?
Replies
8
Views
1K
G_robertus
G
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top