Do Stone Enjoy By batches vary?

hmmm. I popped a 7/4 last night. My last tasting notes on Enjoy By were from October 2013. To my taste, it seems like last night had a bit more of a tropical fruitiness too it and a touch more sweetness than my previous notes. That distinctive Stone yeast note wasn't extremely prevalent in the 7/4 to me either. I really really enjoyed the 7/4.

 

They do vary and if you check out the enjoy by thread under the news and releases section you will see that there appears to be variation between the two breweries and possibly between batches from the same brewery

 

According to Mitch Steele via BeerSmith podcast the recipe doesn’t vary. Well maybe ever slightly based on hops. If it does vary that’s just natural batch variation being a seasonal.

Mitch said Enjoy by used Nelson hops in the beginning but learned it would be too hard to consistently get enough Nelson hops to use it. Switched up the hop recipe to a combination that Stone could get regularly and be able to add more of one hop if needed due to supply. However, he said it’s 99% the same batch to batch. Mitch is gone so things could have changed and reformulated based on the industry trend, i.e. unfiltered.

 

Even if the recipe doesn’t change I’m quite sure the quality of the hops and it’s variations makes any batch unique, especially so in these big boy beers. Have to say I don’t mind minor variations I come to expect them to a degree, which makes Bells Two Hearted even more miraculous, it never ever seems to change.

 

They seem to be pretty radically different from batch to batch, I remember specifically when they put out a Brut IPA variation because I knew I wasn't going to pick that up in a million years But Enjoy by 7/4 is fantastic, or should I say "was" because it's now the 5th

 

Makes sense, explains why I only notice the special versions along with the 4/20 and 7/4 releases

 

Wonder if it’s know that the batches vary if they would consider using something like a single hop variation unique to that release. It might be interesting to have releases using Chinook, Mosaic, Amarillo etc. It might take the pressure off sourcing hops in enough volume to do a run as well as to really change it up.

 

[Absolutely. Enjoy by I had vouple years back was close to world class. The revent 7/4/29 batch had a cool U.S. flag can, and a terriblw boozy taste. Worst beer I have wvwr had all year, and worst Stone beer. I love Stone brews. But paying $18.00 for a six pack of this terrible recent batch has put me off gettng "Enjoy" by again. I drank one, and not any other of this six pack.

QUOTE="Longhorn08, post: 6553272, member: 780066"]Gonna pop a top on my first Enjoy By tomorrow because quite frankly, I love the cans and the Enjoy By date of 7/4/19. Usually its been a bit too pricey for my blood.

So my question is, for those who have had many different batches of Enjoy By, have you seen any variance between the batches or are they pretty consistent?

Will my Enjoy By 7/4/19 taste any different than previous batches?

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

 

But with this one being "Unfiltered" why wouldn't it fall under the specialty category as another variant? Were they always unfiltered?

 

Not so much a suggestion as whats on the can.

 

I agree, it is not normally unfiltered. According to the can, this iteration was unfiltered.



Edit: oops! Too slow.

 

Yea I didn't realize until I went to the site and saw ALL the previous years Enjoy Bys that they had been doing unfiltered ones for such a long time. I thought (much like unfiltered Ruination 2.0) that it was a sign of the times and possibly new. I was very wrong.

 

Stone may not say it changes, but after drinking them for years, yes their are detectable differences, some for the better, but some for the worst. I don't buy Stone Enjoy By much anymore, because other breweries are making excellent West Coast DIPAs that are better. I will say though that the first "unfiltered" ones were really good.

 

Agreed the first 2 batches where you could only get growler fills were top notch now it's like getting ballast point beer. Not that Stone was ever that impressive to begin with, its a good gateway beer.

 

Sounds like a common theme around here. First release, limited supply = the best variations.