Stone Enjoy By 7-4-19

Ya, I had a few now and not enjoying. One its clear as day for unfiltered, so I don't get that whole thing. The bitterness overtakes the beer in my eyes, nothing wrong with a solid bitterness but it needs more than that. This enjoy by is not very enjoyable to me.

Comparing this to average shelf beers they (shelf beers) are miles better. Stone needs a new path, overly bitter is boring now.

 

That's cool. I don't have a Costco membership...can't justify the 'all ginormous everything' packaging formats considering it's just me and the wife. When we have kids I'll be all over it though.

Not sure if that second part was directed at me or not, the 'winkface emoji' screams sarcasm but then again this is the internet, things don't translate well....FWIW, I liked the beer well enough, just not at that price point.

 

Not sure if I am hop burned or what but this one just fell flat for me. Had one last night and it just seems harsh without that goodness. Maybe I need a hop rest lol.

 

Hahaha yeah it's definitely west coast all the way. I liked the "in your face" hop bitterness, kinda harkens back to the west coast IPAs I love(d) dearly (GF Palate Wrecker!!). Definitely was had a bit of a thin body if that makes any sense but I that is more a reflection for, what I believe, is a shift in flavor preferences. My palate definitely expects more softness/sweetness/fruitiness now with all of these late-hopped IPAs on the market. I kinda liked that Enjoy By reminded me of a classic west coast "go fuck yourself" DIPA used to taste like. That being said though, it's pretty much a one and done type of beer for me so in that regard I do like the 19oz format....I don't need that many 9% abv DIPAs in my fridge. It's dangerous.

 

That is a great point to make. This sort of beer is more a one and done than back to back for me. What is funny is that I had a Project Dank Summer Edition last night and that was in your face but it was so well rounded it was awesome. I enjoy a bitter beer but it has to balance out for me.
I agree though that the sweet stuff has wrecked a lot of us. I am so used to it that at times I come to expect it from all beers. Not that its a bad thing but there is a place for both.

 

This has been my dilemma lately and why I have been staying away from buying 4 or 6 packs of DIPAs, by the time I hit the third one I am tired of it and unlike some other high ABV beer styles they don't age well at all so it's not like you can move the rest to the back of the fridge for a much later time. I am not an uber freshness person by any means but I have had a few DIPAs with some age on them and they were a mess.

 

Totally agree!

 

No, it’s more than the bitter, it’s basically just not an enjoyable beer. At it’s base as it is now I just don’t like it and I won’t buy it again.

Of all the Stone hoppy beers imo the base ipa is imo their best effort, fresh it’s timeless.

 

I have not bought an Enjpy By since the $18.99 sixer a few years ago and said never again at that price. Unfiltered was my favorite and got it new for $13.99 so I said yes once again. Good job Stone to bring down the price. So the one I tried New was very clear, not nearly as hazy as I recalled from the past. Taste was a touch boozy, and not quite as fruity hopped as I recalled. It was a nice balance of malt, bitter and sweet though. Well crafted. Just a little different from my recollection. 100% sure the old one was hazier in appearance though.

 

I enjoyed the six pack I had. *shrugs*

 

Yeah the second part was mainly directed at the get off my lawn, distro ****s that argued about retailers who have old stock. Get tf over it... don’t buy old beer if you don’t like it.

I honestly hoped that someone would say something about the beer itself in this thread, but these other folks have a lot more time on they hands than me evidently.

 

It's usually one person and he seems to hijack other threads too.

 

Hmm. Let me make a quick ad. This beer was canned on 5/28, my first can was at about 14 days old. Now it’s about 2 weeks and a few days later and this beer is much better than the first. Let me add it’s still not my favorite DIPA ever but the rough edges are rounding out a bit, even the nose is a bit better, the hops are stepping up. I’ve only seen this once before with an ipa I would suppose you’d call a bit green, and that beer took a few weeks to dial in, perhaps this is one of those for whatever reason. I have one can left of the 6 and kinda dreaded popping this one, I might wait another two weeks perhaps the the EB Date and pop the last one.

 

I always figure the enjoy by date is the date it's meant to be at its prime, especially since they pegged them all to holidays

 

Some beers for whatever reason are better at 30 days than 3 days, this may be one of those.

 

I would agree with most others on this being somewhat disappointing. Even if they had called it a West Coast IPA it's a let down. I mainly pick up some classic west coast resiny/pine, followed by a lot of let down, there's just nothing to the finish other than some booziness and slightly harsh bitterness.
I picked up 3 in a mix 6, I should have went with 1 or 2 more Six Point Sparklers or 1 or 2 Luponic Distortion No 13. Just not impressed with Stone in this one.

 

Well I just got my box from @gardenstatepkwy so I now have the materials for a CA Va side by side on these ones. I'll post my results

 

I still love it. To me, perhaps it has changed a tad since it first came out, but not really enough for this guy to notice a huge difference in taste or how much I enjoy it - which I do. I still think it is amazing.

 

So here's my totally unscientific biased comparison of the west coast brewed vs the east coast brewed version of enjoy by. To be fair both of these they were both subjected to inoptimal conditions when one was hauled along with me on a drive half way across the country and the other was shipped a few states over both in the middle of some super hot weather. Also the CA version is in a stovepipe while the VA version is in a 12 oz. All that said, here goes.

A: The differences are immediately apparent on the pour. The CA version is decidedly hazy with a thin head while the VA version is clear as a bell with a robust and stable white head.
S: The smell differences are subtler and interesting. The VA version has a much fruitier nose and a more robust aroma while the CA version is more muted on the nose and, while still fruity, has noticeably more earthy and piney bitterness in the smell.
T: Hitting the VA version first, it's got a mildly bitter up front flavor with a nicely balancing tropical hit. The finish is cleanly bitter. The CA version has a much more one dimensional flavor, it's piney/citrusy with a modest booziness.
F: The VA version is a bit fuller bodied but both are surprisingly light bodied for such a big beer. The CA version is a bit deficient in my opinion while the VA version rides low on the scale of accetability but sits in a great spot.

Overall, I'm shocked about how different these two beers are. I would expect stone to be significantly more consistent than this between their two breweries. I'm also a little salty that the east coast version is a better beer (in my opinion) than the one brewed on home turf. The VA version is a beer I would buy a 6 pack of and maybe two, I wouldn't have bought more of the CA version if not for this impromptu mission. In any case, take this with a spoonful of salt because this isn't scientific, blind, or unbiased. It's just one guys opinion but it is surprising how different the beers are, to me.