Ithaca Anniversary Stout

A dark clear brown stout with a thin moka head. In aroma, sweet caramel Nestle Quick, with light vanilla. In mouth, a sustained roasted coffee and chocolate, lots of roasted bitterness, medium bodied, a bit oily mouthfeel.

Brown bottle, 355 ml, label read as Finger Lakes Stout, savoured on May 6 2007; eye: dark burgundy, light effervescence, clear, thin beige head; nose: caramelized roasted malt, vanilla, light chocolate, cocoa; mouth: lots of vanilla, roasted malt, lightly acrid, fizzy, a bit of grainy hops, finale in roasted malt that is slightly acrid and a good presence of vanilla, slightly oily texture, lightly bitter, medium body; overall: a bit disappointed FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 355 ml, étiquette montre Finger Lakes Stout, savourée le 6 mai 2007; œil : bourgogne foncée, légère effervescence, claire, petite mousse beige; nez : malt torréfié caramélisé, vanille, léger chocolat, cacao; bouche : assez vanillée, malt torréfié, légèrement âcre, pétillante, petite amertume granuleuse, finale en malt torréfié légèrement âcre avec une bonne présence de vanille, texture légèrement huileuse, légèrement amère, corps moyen; en résumé : petite déception

This is is a sparkling deep brown-black beer with a rocky, warm tan head that disappears after a few minutes. When held to the light, I can see about 2 cm into it. The aroma is moderately malty. The primary smell is mild roasted coffee with some herbs and citrus. I can detect the Ithaca yeast: dusty and earthy. The flavor exhibits a good balance between malt and hops. The aftertaste reveals carbonized sugar and semi-dark chocolate. The mouth feel is slightly alkaline. This actually has some body-- not as watery as some of the other offerings from Ithaca.

12 oz. bottle via Lubiere. App.: reddish hues, dark brown; small, light tan head. Aroma: slightly skunky dark-roast coffee, a bit of molasses, vanilla, chocolate and licorice. Palate: a bit thin with fairly lively carbonation. Flav.: black coffee, slight sweetness and saltiness, a mildly bitter aftertaste, a hint of hops and a bit alcoholic. Not bad.

12 oz bottle from variety pack. This also doesn’t say "Anniversary Stout" but just Finger Lakes Stout. I was prepared to be disappointed by the less than oil appearance... dark, but can still see some light through it. But the flavor is full and quite enjoyable, and like the other Ithaca brews, I underestimated this one. Hangs onto the tongue, but still that’s not always a bad thing. Not the stoutest stout I’ve had, but an enjoyable brew nonetheless.

Growler from the brewery. Pours a deep reddish black with a medium sized tan head. Sweet aroma of caramel and red wine, with perhaps a touch of molasses. Flavor is quite vinous with roasted coffee and a bit of chocolate which build in the finish. Minimal hops presense, and amazingly sessionable for a stout. Wish they bottled this, as I would like to experiment with cellaring this about a year, just to see what happened.

Thanks for the draft JB. DArk red in color with a sweet aroma. Toasted coffe and chocolate flavor. Not the best stout of the night.

Reddish brown color. Classic stout characteristics - coffee and chocolate aroma. Oily finish with some hops, seemed to go towards the dry stout end of the spectrum.