This past Saturday I traveled to Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens Escondido for lunch with the FirkinBeer.com team. While there I found Stone Berlin IPA on tap. So I conducted a side-by-side Stone IPA comparison – Berlin vs. Escondido.

First of all, here’s a little background. The FirkinBeer.com team traveled to Stone Berlin in August for a hosted, pre-opening tour of Stone’s new and historic location. You can read the details about Stone Brewing Berlin and our visit by clicking here.

The FirkinBeer.com Team Visiting Stone Brewing Berlin

While touring, our Stone Berlin guides told us that the Stone Brewing Berlin beer versions don’t always have the same composition and flavor profile as their American counterparts. The variations express regional influences while still maintaining integrity and craftsmanship in the ingredients and brewing techniques. In a recent interview published in Beer Advocate Magazine, Stone President and Co-Founder Steve Wagner confirmed what our Berlin tour guides had told the FirkinBeer.com team.

“With Berlin, we’re not as concerned,” says president Steve Wagner. “We’re trying to use more local ingredients.” Noble hops? Nope. Stone’s brash signature is Pacific Northwest hops, deployed to pungent excess. The modification is malt, which would be prohibitively expensive to ship from North America. The differences are subtle, Wagner says, with surprising side-by-side preferences. “Among our team, some people actually like the Berlin versions better,” he says.

While visiting Stone Brewing Berlin, my very first beer was Stone Berlin IPA. I wrote an article noting perceived flavor differences that you can read by clicking here and scrolling to the Stone Berlin section. However, at the time I could not conduct a side-by-side comparison with an American version of Stone IPA. So I was thrilled to be able to do so during my visit on Saturday to Escondido. What a great job I have!

Stone IPA Comparison – Berlin vs. Escondido

The Stone IPA Comparison – Stone Berlin IPA (left) vs. Stone Escondido IPA (right)

 

My Stone IPA Flavor Comparison Notes

Hence, Stone Berlin IPA and Stone Escondido IPA are different. Some of the differences I noted are not just in the malt selection. The hops selection also plays a role. Stone Brewing’s websites note that Stone Berlin IPA features Magnum, Centennial, and Mosaic hops while Stone American IPA features Magnum, Chinook, Centennial, Azacca, Calypso, Motueka, Ella, and Vic Secret hops.

Stone Brewing’s decision defies the “conventional rules” of product branding consistency to employ a regional concept. We’ll see if the approach succeeds. Overall, I enjoyed both these IPAs and look forward to more comparisons.