Stone + Modern Times Wizards & Gargoyles Hazy Coffee IPA

Review Date 11/25/2020   By John Staradumsky

What do folks think about coffee IPAs? I’ll confess I’m on the fence. I like them well enough, to be sure, and I’ll drink them now and again, but they are not exactly a style I seek out actively. The coffee and hops flavors seem a tad incongruous to me; much better in my mind is a marriage between roasty coffee and roasty malt in a stout or porter.

That said, when I heard that Stone Brewing and Modern Times brewing were getting together to whip one up as a collab, I was all over it. I never saw that beer that beer, Stone + Modern Times Wizards & Gargoyles Hazy Coffee IPA, in stores here in Georgia, though I will confess with Covid I have not been out so much. I did, however, get a can through the magic of Craftshack.com.

It's not just the same hometown that unites Stone Brewing and Modern Times. It's an unceasing drive to create, innovate and challenge convention. (Not to mention the shared obsession with those little green miracles we call hops.) Modern Times / Stone WIzards & Gargoyles IPA is an achievement of collaborative awesomeness between two San Diego craft beer trailblazers. Centennial, Cashmere, Citra, and Azacca hops are joined by two in-development hops, yielding juicy notes of tropical citrus that play beautifully with the robust flavors and aromas of the coffee, supplied by, of course, Modern Times' caffeination masters. The result is a beer as wonderfully unique as its creators.

Stone lists these ingredients, but not the malt varirties which I always find annoying.

FEATURED HOPS

Citra

Cashmere

Centennial

HBC 685

HBC 692

SPECIAL INGREDIENTS

Coffee

Stone + Modern Times Wizards & Gargoyles Hazy Coffee IPA has an alcohol content of 7% by volume with 51 IBUs. I paid $3.97 for my can, not much more than the $12.99 a 4-pack Total Wine sells it for (though not in Georgia). My can is stamped as CANNED; 08/04/20 ENJOY BY 12/02/20. It also say:

A COLLABORATION BETWEEN STONE BREWING & MODERN TIMES BEER

BREWED & CANNED BY STONE BREWING, ESCONDIDO CA & RICHMOND, VA

Stone + Modern Times Wizards & Gargoyles Hazy Coffee IPA pours to a hazy orange juice color with a medium head of foam and a coffee and orange juice nose. A glass of morning?  Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body with bright juicy citrus notes of orange and tropical pineapple laced with notes of black coffee and coffee grinds. The beer finishes bitter from hops and coffee roast.

Very tasty indeed, I will say that Stone + Modern Times Wizards & Gargoyles Hazy Coffee IPA is quite different from any Coffee IPA I’ve had before. I do like the elements of coffee with the juiciness of this one, a lot like you morning coffee and juice all in the same glass.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, canned

(D)=Draft

 

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