One of the most hyped/talked about beer series in recent years has been the launch of Stone Brewings’ Enjoy By… series of double IPAs. This series incorporates into the beer’s name the date before which Stone wants you to consume the beer. That date, they decided, is five weeks after bottling.For the record, most breweries give their beer a six or eight month shelf life.

It is not that Stone thinks the beer will be bad after five weeks. Instead they are saying that after that date the beer will not be as good as it could be, that its peak flavours and aromas will have faded. They want you to drink it while it is “at its best”.

It is an intriguing and highly controversial declaration. The concept behind it is sound for hop-forward beer like IPAs and Double IPAs. The hop aromatics and flavour compounds are fairly volatile and start to deteriorate quite quickly. Within a few weeks it is possible to detect a loss of the fresh hop aroma and flavour. The bitterness also will drop, but more slowly (in the range of months). A six-month old IPA will lack a lot of that sharp hop character it started life with, even if the beer itself is still perfectly drinkable.

The debate is whether Stone has found a good way to ensure its beer are consumed in best possible condition, a commitment to highest quality, or if they making too big a deal of this and the whole thing is basically a marketing ploy? I cannot resolve that debate, nor will I try. Stone certainly is known for its aggressive marketing strategies and in recent years has been accused of less than ethical dealings at times. But there is also no question they make some fantastic beer. Arrogant Bastard is a brilliant beer by any measure.

While in San Diego I visited the sprawling, impressive Stone facility and had a sample of the the latest in the series, Enjoy By 9.20.14. It had been out about 10 days when I tried it. Given the circumstances I couldn’t take any notes at the time, but I remember being struck by how big and fresh the hop aroma, in particular, was, and that overall the beer was surprisingly light-bodied for a Double IPA.

So I decided to also buy a bottle for more careful consideration. After letting it settle for a few days upon arrival, I opened the bottle earlier this week. What did I find?

First I found that huge hop aroma I remembered. I get pineapple, pine, passionfruit and soft citrus, accented by a slight resiny note. Behind that there is some light malt base for support with a bit of generic estery fruitiness. The beer pours pale gold with what I would describe as a determined, rocky white head. It has brilliant clarity and is lighter in colour than I expected.

In the tasting, the dominant character is a fruity, fresh hop. I get some viney green character, but mostly soft citrus, like pineapple and passionfruit, with a pine accent. The pineapple is particularly noticeable. Hints of berry lurk in the background to create character. The malt is like an ordinary, non-San Diego IPA, which is surprising given the beer is 9.2% . It finishes quite dry and light, with an intense bitter linger and a everlasting piney, citrusy hop taste. Malt is rounded without being too full. the malt character is  almost pilsner-like. The alcohol is very well hidden.

Okay, this is an impressive Imperial IPA, no question. The hop aroma and flavour is pronounced. I was surprised how many layers of hop flavour I could isolate. The hops did taste remarkably fresh. One of my fears was that, being so young, the alcohol would still be quite hot, but they do a nice job of masking it.

Of course at the moment it is still quite fresh, which is the point. To really do a test of the necessity for such a short window would be to try a second bottle in about three or four months. Alas, I do not have one. I debated buying two bottles for that very purpose, but realized it would have meant bringing back one less bottle of something else I really wanted, like Alesmith or Lost Abbey. Science takes a back seat to my greedy palate, after all.

I will have to leave it to others to decide whether Enjoy By… is smart or gimmicky.