Beer Man: Stone’s array of hops makes Dayslayer a winner
Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Dayslayer India Pale Lager
Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, Calif.
Stone has always been one of my favorite breweries, especially when it comes to the American pale ale and American India pale ale styles.
Most of those styles I’ve had from Stone veer away from the pine-forward and excessively bitter hops, and chalky aftertaste that I am not fond of, although I’m sure they have made ales fitting that profile.
While a name like Dayslayer India Pale Lager might indicate it would be an extreme assault on the taste buds, that turned out not to be the case.
Related: Beer Man: Stone Brewing gives new IPA a tangerine twist
Fresh grain was prominent in the aroma, which was unusual for a style that usually overpowers with hops. Its flavor also was outside the norm, with orange and tangerine notes from the hops prominent, semi-sweet and grainy malt noticeable, and piney hops minimal.
The 7.5% ABV ale looked nice with its foamy white head and slightly hazy golden body. Its lager roots showed up in the dry and crisp body.
Dayslayer is sold in 22-ounce bottles and was a collaboration between Stone and the Maine Beer Co., with Stone doing the actual brewing.
Stone India Pale Ale (6.9% ABV) is celebrating its 20th year and is a mainstay of the Stone year-round portfolio. Its initial healthy head sank to a thin creamy layer that lasted throughout the sampling. The aroma was subdued, mostly of light citrus.
Related: Beer Man: Tasty Xocoveza has just the right bite
The hops in the amber-colored ale provided flavors of lemon, lime and ginger, with pine in the background. The lime became more pronounced as the beer warmed.
Stone is well known for its various hop mixtures and the IPA is no different — it uses common Chinook and Centennial hops, but also Magnum, Azacca, Calypso, Motueka, Ella and Vic Secret hops, the latter group made up of varieties I’m not familiar with.
Instead of a harsh bitter finish, there was a bit of pine and a nice lingering aftertaste of the citrus. Overall, I would say the bitterness profile was medium.
Stone is available in nearly every state and its Beer Finder link is at the top of its home page.
Related: Beer Man: Hop harmony makes Go To IPA a pleasurable quencher
It’s worth noting that Stone is very particular about its sell-by dates — their bottles and cans have the dates marked on them and it even has a link on its site to report expired beer. The brewery notes that complex hop flavors do not last long after bottling or canning and it expects their distributors to remove product after the sell-by date.
The sad truth is that many distributors don’t do this. Then there are others that remove expired product, but after several months or a year they sell it to other stores or taverns at a reduced price. Buyer beware.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.