Green tea beer from Stone Brewing Company.
Green tea beer is once again available from Stone Brewing Company of Escondido, California. Stone, a California craft beer pioneer, has teamed up again with Baird Brewing Company of Japan and Ishii Brewing Company of Guam to offer a delicious green tea beer in the IPA style.
The three brewmasters, Bryan Baird, Toshi Ishii and Mitch Steele of Stone selected hops that would blend well with sencha green tea. The hops used include Helga from Australia, Aramis from France and Sorachi Ace from Japan. According to Steele, the hops provide a fruity and spicy character that combines well with the herbal and grassy flavors of sencha green tea. The resulting beer is described by Stone as “bright, herbaceous and bitingly hoppy.”
“The hop starts off as tropical fruits like mango and pineapple,” according to Steele, “and then are followed by hints of dill from the Sorachi Ace. The tea flavors assert themselves mid-palate and linger nicely with a dry character.”
The original green tea IPA from Stone in 2011 also included Ishii and Baird Brewing Companies. Proceeds from that year’s green tea IPA were donated to the Japanese Red Cross to benefit victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan that year.