Stone Enjoy By 7-4-19

I've no recollection of a "green" NEIPA, but I can remember thinking WCIPA's were "green" in the past (some of Surly's "brewery only" stuff, for example). I think the "green" is tied to the booziness, and I can't recall having a NEIPA that I thought was boozy.

 

This has been my experience as well and many hoppy beers, especially the bigger ones, have a noticeable sweet spot to me and it's about 30 days after bottling/canning. I recently drank my way through a four pack of Troegs Nimble Giant that was canned on 06/05 and the first three were good but tasted like all of the flavors were clashing just a bit but the final can I had last night it tasted like it had settled down a lot. I know that a lot of variables can come into play here but for me 30 days (or getting close to it) seems to be a great baseline.

 

For reference below is a link to a post I made in a past NBS thread which included a triangle test prior to conducting a side-by-side taste test.

Cheers!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-636.507851/#post-5417858

Cheers!

 

Okay so I got to my side by side CA vs VA Enjoy By 07.04.19 comparison last night and I believe @stevepat hit the key points pretty well - the only difference to me was my two samples looked nearly identical. Keep in mind I'm not a cicerone but I have had my fair share of this beer and always grabbed a 6 when available.

A little background on my recent Enjoy By history for context:
- My first Untappd check-in of Enjoy by was 07.04.14 and my latest was 12.25.17 where I expressed my utter disappointment at whats become of this beer. On my first few check-ins to this beer I noted that "dank, hoppy, weed aroma just jumping out immediately". The last two check-ins not so much. Which lead me to believe that the Stone facility in Virginia somehow couldn't duplicate that "devastatingly dank" beer that Stone is famous for.

Before testing I stored each beer side by side in my beer fridge which is kept at 38 degrees. Prior to opening I gently rolled each can to stir up any hoppy goodness that may have settled to the bottom.

For the triangle test I used blue Solo cups. My wife poured three samples into the cups, two being the same. I was able to identify which beers were the same from this test. It was not as stark a difference as I expected by the difference was noticeable on first sip nonetheless.

After the triangle we moved on to the clear glass side by side test. For this test I pulled out two identical tulip glasses and cleaned them to make sure everything was even. My wife then poured each beer into their respective tulips. When I turned around to look at each beer I did not notice any difference in color. The color may have been very slightly off but they looked almost identical to me. What I did notice was the difference in head! The CA version did not produce any head whatsoever. The VA version produced a two-finger head that dissipated after a few minutes.



Here are the tasting notes I jotted down for each:

Sample 1 - California

Smell - Earthy, malty, booze smell prominent. Slightest whiff of the dankness that used to dominate the aroma of this beer. As weak as if someone walked by my nose with the old version.The most interesting smell was a touch of something metallic which I was not expecting. Couldn't quite place it but metallic would be my word to describe it.

Taste: Sweet, reminiscent of a triple IPA (know this is only a double). Bready. Wheres the hop flavor? Very muted, watered down hop flavor going on. Some heat but not a ton. I'm wondering if this beer has a shorter shelf life than even Stone advertises? There are some faint indications of a hoppy beer that once resided in this can but its long gone.

Mouthfeel - Almost flat, under-carbonated and creamy. As if this were a nitro can.


Between cans I cleared my nostrils with some coffee beans and ate a few pretzels.

Sample 2 - Virginia

Smell - Another standard triple IPA smell - sweetness with some malt. I get some tropical notes from this version I did not get with the CA version - pineapple and mango perhaps. Again, just a faint hop aroma, perhaps more present than the CA version but missing is that huge dankness this beer used to bring.

Taste - This is where the difference is most apparent. Bitter opening that reminded me a lot of the old versions of Enjoy by. That cottonmouth bitterness is present throughout the tasting. Slightly more burn from this one but not enough to be off-putting and expected for the ABV. The pineapple notes I got from the aroma are there but a bit more muted on the tongue. There was a bit of the old school resin-like dankness in this beer but like the CA version it seemed a ghost of it's former self. This beer certainly tasted more complex than the CA version. I actually finished the two cans we used for the test while I poured the CA down the drain.

Mouthfeel - Normal carbonation level unlike the CA sample. The mouthfeel overall was what I expected from a 9.4% ABV double IPA.


Overall

While I did discern they were different enough to identify, I don't think I really enjoyed one much more than the other. Both have some major flaws. CA seems horribly undercarbed and sweet. Both are missing that "devastatingly dank" quality that used to draw me to them. Once the bottle/can was opened you could smell the weed dankness right away. It was unmistakable. You knew exactly what beer you were drinking. Both of these came across underwhelming in every way.
If I can say one thing for sure, I agree with @stevepat that Stone has a QC issue. My two examples looked almost identical but tasted much different with the CA version tasting like a watered down, undercarbed shell of the VA version. The VA version was more complex and different flavors were apparent throughout the experience. All in all I preferred the VA version, but wouldn't go out of my way for either. I think my non-purchasing of this product will continue for the foreseeable future. What once stood out to me as really interesting, over the top hop bombs come across now as bad imitations of their former self. To be clear, when I purchased this beer prior to the VA facility opening, I expected a one-trick pony; resin, dankness, hops, bitter. Just a blast of all those things. And I enjoyed it for that. As the youth of today may say "this ain't it, chief."

 

@gardenstatepkwy, thanks for adding your thoughts. Nice to see so much commonality between our observations, lending a little more credence to the notion that this is actual variability between the facilities. Wild how much different the appearances are though, yours do look almost identical while mine looked like totally different beers.
Another nail in the coffin for stone for me for sure. If I can't even count on them producing consistent product how can I ever reliably purchase from them again. Sad to see how far a once world class brewery has fallen

 

I’d add that I think Stone misses with their specialty kinda IPAs if that’s the correct term, their flagship IPA is still gold when it’s fresh. Some of the junk they brew shouldn’t get out of testing.