Stone Brewing Collective Distortion IPA
Stone Brewing has been on a tear lately with collaborative efforts, especially with their IPAs. Collective Distortion is a 9.3% ABV Double/Imperial IPA that came together with the help of a couple of musicians — Kyle Hollingsworth of The String Cheese Incident and guitarist Keri Kelli.
I’m not exactly sure how much input the duo had or if the addition of coriander and elderberries were from their end of the collective spectrum. Regardless of who brought which element to the recipe table, Collective Distortion is a pretty damn tasty IPA. The use of Elderberry is a first for the brewery, but they managed to utilize it quite well here. It neither overwhelms or becomes masked by the fruity hop profile or the herby presence of the coriander.
Appearance
The brew pours a crystal clear copperish amber in color with a large stack of tawny foam.
Aroma
You definitely pick up the elderberry amongst the grapefruit and pine notes. The nose is floral and herbal with a hint of caramel.
Taste
There’s more of an elderberry and coriander presence on the tongue as the brew washes over. Solid pine, grapefruit and orange notes file in quickly after. A moderate to high level of hop bitterness lingers for a good long while in the lasting and slightly warming finish — the beer masks the elevated alcohol fairly well. There’s a floral quality to the flavor.
Overall
All in all, Collective Distortion IPA may be the result of a collective effort, but it certainly didn’t distort anything in terms of what to expect from Stone Brewing. The IPA is quite tasty and the coriander/elderberry additions played more of a rhythm accompaniment to the lead guitars of the hop profile. Tasty, deceptively smooth and right in line with what we expect from the brewery. What more could you ask for?
Rating: 4/5
