Stone 20th Anniversary Citracado IPA Review

Name: Stone 20th Anniversary Citracado IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9%
IBUs: 80

It's that time of the year again where Stone releases their annual Anniversary IPA, with each year being different than the last and I've made it a duty of mine to review each one that comes out every year since I first started this blog. First one I looked at was the 17th Anniversary Gotterdammerang, then came the 18th Anniversary Brown IPA, and then came the 19th Anniversary Thunderstuck.

So what do we have for the 20th Anniversary? We have Citracado, an Imperial IPA with citra hops and......avocado flower honey? According to what I've dug up, the honey does indeed come from the avocado plant but it's derived mainly from the nectar of the plant.

Appearance - Hazy dark amber color with a moderate amount of carbonation. It possess a reasonable foamy head but there isn't too much in terms of lacing left behind, if any at all.

Aroma - Right off the bat, I'm getting some reasonably strong citrus hops with some hefty caramel & toffee malts. I'm also getting some of that honey sweetness and just a touch of dark chocolate roast.

Taste - Much like the nose, I'm getting some strong citra hops and caramel malts with some honey and bitter hop notes towards the middle. On the back end of the palate, that honey sweetness does get a bit stronger and lingers on in the aftertaste. Aside from that, it's mostly citrus and bitter hops that gives it a light dankness to it.

Each year, I hope that Stone's Anniversary IPA matches the quality and flavor that I saw in Gotterdammerang three years ago. This year....is not that year, but this is still an outstanding IPA nevertheless. It's got an excellent hop profile and the malts help even it out perfectly. So with that said, go check this one out while you still can.

Stone 20th Anniversary Citracado IPA - 9/10