Stone Brewing Solves Brut IPA Mystery

I have been underwhelmed by Brut IPAs.  The ones I have tasted have had an initial shot of hops that melt away to nothing - a puff of smoke in a glass.  I don't know how Stone Brewing managed to fix this Brut disappearance mystery, but it did in a big way with its Enjoy By 01.01.19 Brut IPA.  Maybe it was the 9.4% abv, but I am not complaining.  Whether it was the last Enjoy By of 2018, or the first of 2019, it was the best Brut IPA I have had - by far. 

Enjoy By 01.01.19 poured reddish orange with white foam.  The rich amber color, which was much darker than other wane Brut IPAs I have seen and tried, gave a prescient visual clue to the flavor that was to come, and the ripe aroma of pine was immediate upon popping the cap.  Enjoy By 01.01.19 Brut IPA was a soothing, resinous, bitter pine beer.  I did not note any significant malt sweetness - so this was no cloying DIPA - but the mouthful was big and full, so the malt was there.  The finish, yes, Enjoy By 01.01.19 had a finish; a long, hoppy finish, not the maddening wisp of pine or citrus like other Brut IPAs.  It had some of the dryness associated with the Brut IPA style, but I stayed focused on the beer's ability to stay present, which so many Brut IPAs lack.  If Stone swapped some of the style's dryness for flavor and finish, and frankly, some character, I am glad.

Before I had Stone Brewing's Enjoy By 01.01.19 Brut IPA I was ready to write-off Brut IPAs.  Stone redeemed this style with a stellar interpretation.  I am not convinced the Brut IPAs style will stick around, especially if brewers need to load the abv to over 9% just to get a flavor that does not immediately disappear.  If you are interested in Brut IPAs because you want a dry beer more than a bitter beer, you should seek out a saison.  You will not only get dryness, some saisons can be so dry as to make you choke, but have many other flavors as well, like exotic spices, fruits, and flowers.