Stone's new Go To IPA

Quick link to The New School's post about Stone's new "Go To IPA," so I can say a huge

THANK YOU!

to Stone Brewing for making this 4.5%: not 4.9%, not 4.7%, not 4.6%...but 4.5%. Stone says the beer is "hop-bursted," which they explain this way:

This beer employs the use of the “hop bursting” technique, which in essence is a hopping technique where all or most of the bitterness in the beer comes from late hop additions in the brewhouse, like at the end of boil and in the whirlpool, instead of the more traditional approach where most of the hop bitterness comes from earlier additions at the start of the kettle boil. The result is a beautifully aromatic beer with substantial, but somewhat mellow, bitterness. The hop bursting also enhances the flavor retention of the hops, and combined with the dry-hop, creates a very intense and complex hop flavor.

Whatever: I'm very curious to try it.

And of course, all brewers are encouraged to show us what they're made of and go lower...if they have the balls.

Betting on "session IPA"

Here's a post from a big beer marketing guy who thinks session IPA is going to be a big winner. Check it out; he makes some great points, and the ad campaigns he mentions were some of the most memorable and most effective ones of the era. This whole thing could have huge legs...and maybe lead to something other than session-strength IPAs...