Over the past few months, I noticed six packs of Stone Brewing’s beer showing up in stores around Missoula. This is a good thing. Stone makes some great beers, but they’d previously only been available in 22 oz. bottles. Sometimes that’s more than you want, though they’re very conducive to sharing.

I picked up a six pack of Stone’s Levitation Ale for a warm weekend a couple of weeks ago. The only warm weekend of the year in Missoula thus far. And it is June. I guess that’s par for the course, but it is getting old.  Anyway, Levitation Ale pours a dark copper color with an off white head. It has a light floral hop aroma.  An initial malt taste gives way quickly to a fairly pronounced bitterness which also dominates the aftertaste. It is medium bodied and I’d put it in the pale ale category.  At only 4.4% abv, this beer is proof that you don’t need a lot of alcohol to have lots of flavor.

The hop flavor is on the piney side of things rather than a citrus, though Stone says differently (hey, they know better than me, that’s for sure, but I didn’t get citrus when I tasted it). The bitterness isn’t over the top, but overall I didn’t find this brew to be very remarkable overall. I should probably ask a hop head for a second opinion on this one. Any volunteers?

Name: Stone Levitation Ale
Brewery: Stone Brewing Co, Escondido, CA.
Style: IPA.
Color: Medium gold with a thick white head.
Packaging: 12 oz bottle.
Stats: 4.4% abv, 45 IBU.
Bought: local grocery store, Missoula.
Ruling: Three and a half out of Five Hops. Good, hop featured pale ale with a malt backbone.