Stone IRS 2014

It's a tough one to beat. Thinking back it's probably the first really big beer I had that opened my eyes to what beer could be. I'm glad they don't change the recipe, also they make a lot so people aren't climbing over themselves to buy it all up

 

Just picked up four of them. Two to drink this weekend and two to lay down. One of my favorite RIS. Just found a couple of 06's at a bottle shop in columbus, can't wait to open them up. To answer your question, yes it is one of the best yearly releases, cheers!

 

Is there a difference in the recipe between odd and even years? Cuz I think the '13 bottle I got said "Odd Release" next to the 2013 somewhere.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/stone-irs-2014.162815/#post-2268793

 

I think it's quite boozy for my taste...never had it aged however. I've had BCBS and thought that was much more smoother even with the higher ABV

 

It's solid but others like Founders Imperial Stout, Bells Expedition and Dark Horse Plead the 5th blow it out of the water.

 

The best Stone IRS I ever had was a growler filled by Stone from one of their "cellar" kegs. It was a 2005 vintage drank in 2011, and it was fantastic.

 

Some of the beers Stone pulls out of their cellar make me wonder how large their warehouse must be of aged kegs. They routinely are selling kegs of aged RIS and many of their Vertical Epic beers. They were thinking forward before almost any craft breweries.

 

Stone IRS is the best shelf turd IRS there is. Period.

 

Apples and oranges, dude. Unlike BCBS, Stone IRS hasn't been barrel aged; it's a completely different style of beer.

 

I haven't had the latter two, but frankly I'm hoping that some age improves FIS. Stone's IRS blows just about everything out of the water in my opinion, especially at its price point and with age.

 

what is everyone's fascination with policing the forums? thanks dalton for this wonderful link to a completely different conversation. if it were a Real Problem, i'm sure the wonderful people of BA would do something about it.

 

I did too. First one I had was fresh and boozy and the second , older and not so much.

 

He posted a thread with the exact same name as my original one...discussion about IRS can be contained to the original post, not starting another whole thread with the exact same name...

 

Frankly speaking, stone's price point is actually worse (in most cases) than the likes of fis, tenfidy, expedition, ect. Break it down per oz and there are other world class ris that are cheaper per oz. Even the perceived high price on tenfidy (even at $14-15/4pack) is cheaper than a $7 bottle of stone irs if you do the math. Just saying.

 

I think TenFidy is way better anyway. Give me a 4 pack of that over Stones RIS any day.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think stone irs is pretty awesome (have two 2013, espresso and picked up two 2014s). I would take tenfidy, old raspy and fis (my personal favorite ris) over it every time. Still nice to try different beers of the style though.

 

The odd release for 2013 was the Espresso IRS.