21st Anniversary Hail To the Hop Thief
Stone Brewing

21st Anniversary Hail To the Hop Thief21st Anniversary Hail To the Hop Thief
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From:
Stone Brewing
 
California, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
9.8%
Score:
89
Avg:
3.97 | pDev: 8.31%
Reviews:
75
Ratings:
269
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 20, 2018
Added:
Aug 05, 2017
Wants:
  5
Gots:
  43
The big wide world inspires our imagination and fuels our passions. Anything from music, film, beer, literature, architecture, food, engineering, poetry…all art forms essentially, including more beer. We steal with any and all things that possess the one value that we hold most dear: authenticity. The important thing of course is that ‘It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.’ So, what are we saying about this beer, exactly? We gave it our take. We took all there is to love about the IPA, got creative, dry-hopped it a lot, left it unfiltered and shared it openly in the hopes that in some way it may, in turn, inspire you. Hail to The Hop Thief, an original.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jpd026:
Photo of jpd026
Rated by jpd026 from New York

3.38/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
I'm giving this the benifet of the doubt and guess this was just a crappy bottle but really not great
Sep 09, 2017
More User Ratings:
Photo of jopezu
Reviewed by jopezu from Georgia

4.5/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
pours a hazy, orange amber with a medium head that hangs out as suds for a long while. nose; sweet biscuit & fragrant, floral citrus hops. taste; heavy caramel malt, citrus pith, grapefruit zest, candied orange, pine, & citrus hops. almost has a bit of an oak character also. medium carbonation & mouthfeel. ethanol peeks out a touch, but otherwise great job on this ipa. actually reminds me quite a bit of dogfish head’s burton baton. tasty!
Nov 20, 2018
Photo of VoodooBear
Reviewed by VoodooBear from Puerto Rico

4.36/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Presentation: Draft, served in a pint glass.

Appearance: Great, bright golden color. The half finger head dissolves into a thin foam layer that sticks around until the end with the lacing covering the entire glass in patches.

Smell: A dank, pine resin, floral assault on the nose; it's amazing. There's hints of fruity sweetness in the background as well.

Taste: It starts off with a big, spicy hop kick that stings the palate but is balanced by the fruit sweetness and wheat backbone.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy and medium bodied with medium-high carbonation.

Overall: A great DIPA from stone, as expected. Strong with the hops, specially on the nose, but surprisingly balance with just the right amount of sweetness and wheat presence.
Aug 23, 2018
 
Rated: 4.1 by dafla67 from Pennsylvania

Jun 25, 2018
Photo of Strix
Reviewed by Strix from Wisconsin

4.27/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Probably drinking this later than optimal, but it was tasty anyway

Cloudy amber, noticeable sediment, huge fluffy head

Tropical fruits the primary novelty in the smell

Pineyness upon breadyness, with mango/pineapple citrus washing into a somewhat dank finish

Light carbonation, smooth mouthfeel

Something a little different, I liked it.
Jun 19, 2018
Photo of Ego
Reviewed by Ego from New Jersey

3.38/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
in the cellar behind some stuff...
August 2017 release

eyes...
almost wanted to escape on a pretty careful pour, 3 fingers of the fluffy white stuff, pretty clear orange (there is plenty of junk on the bottom of the bomber though), this is a carbonation party - bring your bubble friends, super clingy foam that is sure taking its damn time to dissipate (and I don't feel like wearing a foam 'stache this evening), great looking glass of suds

nose...
piney and cascadey (as in the hops), strong honey/malt with a touch of alcohol backing it, the hops smell a little earthier than they might have when this was new, definitely some tropical notes in there as well, a good bouquet of hops from seemingly across the spectrum of the hop universe (that was a mouthful....sheesh), nice nose

taste etc...
oddly the carbonation lacks bite, almost a little too fine, it needs a little kick in the pep department
I suspect the hops are past their prime, there is some nice bitterness here but the hops are a touch flat and the alcohol comes through a bit too much, aside from the carbonation not being up to snuff the actual weight of the beer is perfect, it walks that line of almost syrupy but not that good DIPAs do

verdict?
I should not have been a putz and forgot this was in my cellar... I am sure this is way better fresh. even with that said it is pretty tasty and definitely well crafted
Apr 22, 2018
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.96/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bottle from Brewers Haven. Copper colored pour, one finger head fades to skin.Aroma is malty and resinous hops. Taste ramps up the hops, sharp biting bitterness, caramel. Mild sweet notes slip in between the stinging hops Bittersweet, through and through.
Apr 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.01 by rsquared59 from Indiana

Mar 18, 2018
Photo of stortore
Reviewed by stortore from Illinois

4.09/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
22 ounce bottle into a tulip snifter. Bottled 7/27/17, had 9/5/17.

Pours a fizzy looking lighter orange, with a one and a half inch foamy head and a decent amount of foamy lacing. Smells of citrus and tropical hops- orange, grapefruit, mango, tangerine, yeast, light pine, some toffee. The hop profile leads the taste as well- grapefruit, mango, orange, more pine than the nose, malt, some caramel and lemon. There’s a decent amount of bitterness up front and especially on the finish, a good amount of sweetness in the middle. Smooth, a solid medium body, well carbonated.

Smells great, tastes very good, but it was kind of ordinary for a Stone anniversary IPA. Enjoyable, though.
Mar 03, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by GreenBayBA from Wisconsin

Feb 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.9 by rorjets from Connecticut

Feb 03, 2018
 
Rated: 4.15 by jrpapajcik from Illinois

Jan 16, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Jan 03, 2018
 
Rated: 4.33 by strengthdoc from Connecticut

Jan 01, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by ShepardCommander from Virginia

Dec 12, 2017
Photo of colts9016
Reviewed by colts9016 from Idaho

4.01/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A three finger head with good retention. The head is off white foamy and creamy with some lacing left on the glass. The beer is SRM 11, between a pale amber and medium amber. The beer is hazy but some light does pass through. A huge amount of carbonation is visible throughout the beer. It is a beautiful beer.

Nose: The beer presents with big tropical notes, mango, pineapple, citrus, grapefruit, floral esters, pine cones, and resin. The beer has a lightly roasted malt profile with caramel, earthy, yeast and honey like sweetness.

The flavor is uber fruity, mango pineapple, lemons, grapefruit, pine, resin, a sweet note, caramel, floral, yeast, earthy, and lightly toasted malt profile.

Mouthfeel is medium body, high carbonation, medium astringency, and medium finish.

The beer has the characters of a DIPA, but it is fruity and the astringency seems more on par with an IPA than Stone DIPA. Maybe I am just used to the bitter DIPA and this was made this way. I was expecting a bit more in the hop bitter department. Good Beer, very easy to drink.
Dec 09, 2017
 
Rated: 4.12 by JuiceMan818 from California

Dec 08, 2017
 
Rated: 3.34 by khargro2 from Tennessee

Dec 04, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Booner818 from California

Dec 02, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by morrowd3 from Vermont

Dec 02, 2017
21st Anniversary Hail To the Hop Thief from Stone Brewing
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 269 ratings