Jan 20, 2016

Coronado Brewing Stingray IPA

Coronado’s first addition to their year-round list of core beers in four years turns out to be one hell of an IPA. Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Southern Cross hop varieties are used to craft Stingray IPA, an imperial IPA weighing in at 7.9% ABV and 41 IBU. The combination of these specific varieties of hop offer the drinker a fruity and floral experience while still maintaining some level of drinkability — a trait not too often found in an imperial style of beer.

Sure, it’s an IPA and as such has a decent amount of hop bitterness, but at only 41 IBU, the beer is deceptively drinkable, especially when the alcohol is masked fairly well. The nose on this beer is packed with lush fruits and pine. Often you’ll encountered a wonderfully crafted aroma on a beer that fails to follow up in the flavor. That’s not the case here with Stingray IPA. Much of what you encounter in the nose is also present on the tongue, just in varying degrees.

I’m personally more of a fan of earthy, piney IPAs, but the flavors of this one are just too darn tasty to ignore. The light peach and tangerine notes excel at bringing you back to the glass for another sip over and over. The refreshing nature of the beer is wonderful, as well, considering the potency behind it. Coronado Brewing has once again shown that they know how to craft a damn fine IPA.

This is a review of a promotional sample.