It’s not often I feel compelled to write about a beer upon first sip, but that was the case after de-capping Stone Brewing Dayman Coffee IPA.

Dayman was the winning beer during last August’s Iron Brew competition in Chicago. Aleman, a trio of homebrewers who are in the process of starting their own brewery, submitted the winning recipe. That recipe was chosen by Stone CEO and co-founder Greg Koch, author and beer expert Randy Mosher, and Two Brothers Brewery co-founder Jason Ebel. Stone’s recent line of collaboration beers have proved that amateur competitors are quickly raising the bar on the quality of beer being produced this era, and Dayman is no exception.

What makes Dayman unique, is it’s distinctive roasted coffee aroma and flavors, paired with it’s non-traditional golden appearance. The initial taste boasts a great balance between coffee and hoppy flavors. Those final notes of hoppiness leave a pleasant, sweet taste leaving tasters wanting more. And while it doesn’t sound completely natural, the flavors totally work.

I couldn’t get enough of this collaboration between Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone but hopefully Stone’s other collaborations w00tstout and RR Coconut IPA live up to this legendary performance.  Reviews on those will arrive soon as well.

This Dayman is definitely a fighter of the nightman and a protector of tastebuds for everyone.