That post should have been called “Dear Stone: it’s not you, it’s me.”

It’s not that it’s a bad beer, and it’s not like I wouldn’t drink it again if it was put in front of me (actually that’s a lie, I turned it down at last week’s tasting but it was a pretty killer IPA lineup, more on that later) but I’m just over this EXTREME!!! style of beer, and I don’t think I’m the only one who’s starting to feel this way.

The thing is, Stone created a beer that’s executed exactly in the style that it intended: it’s a brash, in your face, extremely bitter, palate-crushing, and offensive IPA. You’re supposed to enjoy the pain of drinking this beer the way hot sauce fiends enjoy the burn of a nice ghost chili sauce (I’m a huge fan of Oskar Blues Ten Fidy ghost chili hot sauce, btw).

And just like a 20-something that realizes it’s time to trade in his hot rod for something that’s a little more realistic to drive day-to-day, my palate has moved on to IPAs that are even more delicious and enjoyable to drink, glass after glass, can after can. Between the two of us, we could barely finish this bomber of 10th Anniversary. And that’s the thing, no one has accused Stone’s extreme DIPAs of being all day sipping beers. But that label can easily be applied to any of the DIPAs coming out of The Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, and Lawson’s Finest Liquids and that’s just where I’m at with IPAs these days.