The name "Stone
Cali-Belgique IPA" both begs a question, and answers it at the same time.
It begs the "what exactly is that?" question, and then answers it: "Stone"
designates this ale as one brewed by the Stone Brewing Co., "Cali" hints
that it is a California-style IPA (which all of our IPAs are, as Stone is
certainly one of the best known progenitors of the West Coast IPA style),
and finally, it has an undeniable Belgian influence, indicated by the word
"Belgique" (which is how Belgium's French-speaking population say the word
"Belgian"...the Dutch-speaking Belgians say "België"*). "IPA" of course
stands for "India Pale Ale"-but this label is not the time nor place to
delve into that storied history. Of course, there is the implicitly posed
and as yet unanswered question of what exactly the Belgian/Belgique/België
influence is. And "yeast" is the answer. We carefully selected a Belgian
yeast strain that illuminates a fascinating new aspect of the ale that is
otherwise ostensibly and simply Stone IPA. This is a yeast that showcases
Stone IPA from a completely different angle. The result is both completely
new and different, while still being altogether recognizable as a Stone
brew, an IPA, and Stone IPA in particular. Think of it as an otherwise
identical twin to Stone IPA that was raised in a Belgian culture.
Literally.
Now, all grown up and standing next to each other, they look the same...yet
different. We'd say the Belgian one sounds a bit funny when it talks, but
yeast and ale being decidedly non-verbal (except through you), that's not
literally the case. Their aromas have some similarities, but the Stone
Cali-Belgique IPA is decidedly a bit more, shall we say, aromatically
funky. (No, we are not saying that Belgians smell funny...we didn't say or
imply that at all in any way...no angry cards or letters please...really,
some of you people simply have too much time on your hands!) All in all, we
find it all quite fascinating. But we're brewers, and that's the way we
think. You might find it merely delicious. We, as brewers, most certainly
do too, actually. And so...C'est avec le grand plaisir que nous le
présentons vous! / Het is met geweldig genoegen dat wij het naar u
voorstellen!
* Even though yeast cells are non-verbal, and arguably have no firm
affiliation that shows preference for either the Flemish or the Walloons,
we don't want to accidentally misrepresent the little buggers. As such,
approximately 50% of the Stone Cali-Belgian IPA bottles are labeled
"Cali-Belgique" and the other half "Cali-België." We at the Stone Brewing
Co. respect both cultures highly and equally.
