Stone Brewing Expands Year-Round Offerings with Stone Tangerine Express IPA

Stone Brewing announced the newest addition to its lineup of year-round offerings, Stone Tangerine Express IPA. Packed with whole tangerine and pineapple, this is Stone and this IPA is big, bold and not for kids. Stone Tangerine Express IPA will debut in bars, restaurants and stores where Stone beers are sold beginning this week.
 
From time to time Stone is able produce small batches of beer for special events. In this case Steve Gonzalez, Stone’s Senior Manager of Small Batch Brewing & Innovation, worked with Jake Karley, Director of Beverages & Special Projects, P.J. Whelihan’s Pub & Restaurant in the Philadelphia/South New Jersey area to come up with this original beer for the 2016 Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia.
 
“Together they landed on a beer that is really hoppy but at the same time has incredible fruit flavor, which was achieved by using high-quality, whole fruit,” said Jeremy Moynier, Senior Innovation Brewing Manager. “When I tasted it with our co-founder, Greg Koch, and other members of our leadership and sales team, we loved it so much so that we went back to San Diego to hatch the plan for a future nationwide release. Greg was particularly adamant that this beer should be in our year-round lineup and personally championed it through the process. I love that it’s a great hoppy beer but has just the right amount of fresh fruit with a complex, pithy quality to balance it out.”
 
Stone Tangerine Express IPA pours light golden in color with an aroma that’s bright, juicy and tropical. Stone’s brewers used whole tangerine puree to capture the essence of the bright flavors of the fruit with the addition of whole pineapple for a subtle, yet lingering backnote. Neither the hops nor the fruit dominate, yet together they create several complex fruit layers, which can only be achieved by brewing with the entire fruit. Eight different hops give this beer its marked dankness overtones and refreshing bitterness. It’s an express ticket to a beach hammock getaway with refreshing drink in hand, complete with real fruit character and Stone’s signature bold hop bitterness.

Stone Tangerine Express IPA will be available in 22oz bottles beginning the week of January 30, 2017 with national distribution alongside Stone’s core lineup of beers including Stone IPA, Stone Delicious IPA, Stone Ruination Double IPA 2.0, and the newest hit, Stone Ripper San Diego Pale Ale.

QUICK FACTS
Name: Stone Tangerine Express IPA
Web: stonebrewing.com/tangerineexpress
Stats: 6.7% ABV, 75 IBUs
Availability: 22oz bottles beginning January 30
Hop Varieties: Chinook, Magnum, Centennial, Citra, Sterling, Mosaic, Azzaca, Simcoe
Distribution: National
Find Beer: find.stonebrewing.com

TASTING NOTES
Appearance: Light golden with slight haze.
Aroma: Bright, fresh fruit aromas of pineapple and tangerine combine with citrus and tropical aromas from the hops.
Taste:  An explosion of fresh fruit and bright hops join together to create incredibly complex fruit layers. Taste is both juicy, pithy and hoppy leading to a long finish.
Palate: Crisp, clean, and refreshingly bitter. There is a pithy quality similar to biting into hand-peeled fresh fruit, along with the satisfying back-end bitterness one would expect from an IPA.
Overall: Working with fruit can be amazing and so using amazing quality fruit is key to achieving that wonderful freshness. The high-end pureed fruit selected here blends exceptionally well with the aroma and flavors from the hops, creating a multi-layered IPA that also has fresh hoppy dankness and bitterness that superbly rounds out this beer.

SUGGESTED PAIRINGS
The bright citrus and tropical character of this beer goes great with dishes incorporating ingredients such as nuts, whole grains, lean proteins, fresh or dried fruits, and mild cheeses.  Avoid pairing with heavily seasoned and rich foods.  Barbecue or other smoked foods, steaks, blue cheeses, strong herbs such as rosemary, or excessive use of garlic and chili, these will be more challenging pairings.

Recommendations: Ceviche, Fried Olives, Teriyaki Chicken, Lime Marinated Chicken Tacos, Peach Melba