Beer Tasting: Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15

I've always heard that one of the best marketing strategies is to impose a deadline.  "For a limited time only!"  "Get yours before they are gone!"  "While supplies last!"  "Drink this beer by a certain day!"  Ok, so the last one isn't really one I've heard, until I picked up a Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15.  But the fact of the matter remains that introducing a time variable is actually a great marketing idea.  And although I don't really need any marketing encouragement in order to drink beers in a timely fashion, I did buy a bottle of  Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15.  So I guess the marketing did work.

Stone started the Enjoy By series a few years back (I believe in 2012), and the latest four have been Enjoy By 12.05.14, 12.26.14, 02.14.15, and 03.14.15.  The latest release of the Enjoy By series is Enjoy By 03.14.15, to be bottled on 02.06.15.  The idea behind the Stone Enjoy By series is to bring fresh ingredients to the customer in a short time frame.   So this beer is really designed to be obtained and drunk in a five week window.

Here is a picture of my Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15.

Stone Brewing Company: Enjoy By 02.14.15

ABV: 9.4%

Style: DIPA (double IPA)

Rank: #24 in style and #115 in top 250 overall

Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 poured a deep gold to pale amber.  I was a bit surprised there was not more head on the beer, only about a half-finger.  I had expected more from Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15, but with a high alcohol percent of 9.4% perhaps this detracted from the size of the head slightly.  The smell was very fresh and delicious and easily detected at a distance.  The aroma was very floral and very piney.  I also detected citrus in the form of grapefruit.  Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 completed a tour of tastes very quickly from sip to swallow.  As expected, the beer started very floral and hoppy, but also was more bitter than I had expected.   In the middle of the taste I definitely picked up the fruity notes.  And Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 finished with a fairly noticeable bitterness and potent alcohol warming.  The mouthfeel was about right, and not overly carbonated.

Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 is wonderfully well-blended and yet has very strong flavors.  Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 is definitely up there in rank as far as double IPAs go, and if you get the chance and hops is your taste, you should look to give Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 a whirl.

I do wonder what Stone and stores do with all the leftover Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 on 02.15.15.  I guess this beer is not designed or marketed to sit on the shelf long.  But with as good as Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 tastes, I don't think sitting on the shelf will be much of a concern.

I purchased Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 at Consumer's Beverages.