From the Beer Writer: It’s always a joy checking out new beers being brewed by Kris Ketcham, the head of beer-making at Stone Brewing‘s brewpub in Liberty Station. Not only does he somehow find ways to constantly innovate and push the envelope, we also get to catch up while reminiscing about our days as co-working members of Team Stone. It’s easy to fall into the old vernacular when we chat, so much so that when he gave me a taste of a new double IPA and told me it was called DOM X, I figured it was a beer brewed for Stone’s CEO, Dominic Engels. Yes, seriously. It turns out it was created to celebrate the tenth year of an annual Stone event held at a venerable Las Vegas craft-beer bar. Regardless of its origins, fortified with a dominating dectet of hop varietals, it emits a cornucopia of aromas and flavors: candied lemon peel, tangerine, pineapple, mango, papaya, peach Melba, rosemary and pine needles. There’s a lot going on but it’s all in concert and balanced enough to hide the wallop it packs. Looks like he and I have another fond Stone memory we can share.
From the Brewer: “It’s no secret that I’m somebody who loves brewing and drinking lower-ABV styles of beer, but when it came down to brew something for our tenth annual Stone Domination event at Aces & Ales in Las Vegas, I had the most cliché idea of all: A 10% IPA with 10 different hops to celebrate 10 years that we would go on to call DOM X. With a base of Irish Maltings stout malt and a little addition of clear Belgian candi sugar in the boil, we created a solid foundation of wort at 20 Plato. For the hops to complement the beer, we decided to go with some our favorites from past and present, a little CTZ for bittering, some Chinook and Nelson Sauvin for late additions, a whirlpool consisting of Simcoe, Amarillo and Azacca, along with a generous two-pounds-per-barrel dry-hop of Strata, Mosaic, Ella and Sabro. All together, this beer has it’s typical kick-ass hop characters that we all love in our IPAs, but in a way-too-easy-drinking 10% format. I hope everyone gets the chance to enjoy some…in moderation, of course…before it’s gone.”—Kris Ketcham, Brewery Manager, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station