Ithaca Anniversary Stout

Brewed by Ithaca Beer Company
Style: Stout
Ithaca, New York USA

[draft at MacGregor’s - Henrietta, NY] Deep red pour with a creamy tan head. Nice lacing and red highlights. Nice and rich aroma of roasted malts mixed with coffee and the slightest hint of chocolate. Smooth and chocolaty taste at the beginning with a nice and roasty middle and a slightly bitter yet sweet finish. A little thin, but otherwise very good.

Pours very dark brown, almost black, firm brown head. Huge roasted malt aroma, it was big but nice and soft. Flavor was quite roasty, some soft sweetness. Medium to full body, alcohol covered up well. Did I get the same beer as everybody else? Why is this rated so low?

Pours a nearly opaque deep dark mahogany with a 1.5 cm light tan head. Aroma is very funky--smells like a cow corn silo. Fruity smelling. I just cant get past that grainy smell. It tastes like that all the way through. There are some decent stout properties underneath, but this is just vile. I think its infected.

My bottle reads "Ithaca Finger Lakes Stout." This stout poured dark brown with red highlights and a thin off-white head. Light didn't penetrate this beer through my St. Bernardus glass but I imagine it would have done so if I poured this in a pint glass. Roasted malt and dry chocolate aroma. I wasn't expecting too much flavor considering how thin the body was but I was nicely surprised. This stout has layers of roasted malt, toast, and chocolate. At first this beer had a tangy quality but it reverted to sweetness over the course of the bottle. A hint of caramel finishes the flavor profile. Surprisingly good for such a light-colored, thin-bodied beer. I doubt this version is 7% ABV, however. Thanks Dan (jah noth)!

Is this the same recipe? Poured dark brown with huge foam head. Smelled like a good chocolate cappuccino with roast maltiness. Unfortunately, was overpoweringly sweet. I did not detect 7% alcohol, this year's recipe must be significantly different.

I am surprised to see the lower ratings of this by others after tasting it. I thought this was great. I didn't notice the strong alcohol presence that others spoke of. I did however notice lots of great roasty flavors, that lead into some sweet chocolate. Had characteristics of both a sweet stout,and an imperial. I reccomend giving this a try if you find it. Better than expected, and I will try it again.

An excellent stout. The flavor had everything that I look for. A bold roasted coffe body, perfectly balanced with a sweet chocolate flavor. The taste lingers on the tongue for quite a while and hides the alcohol content very well. The only downside to this beer is the head. It is very small and disappears a few seconds after pouring. Overall this is a terrific beverage.

Strong beer, with mainly a burnt malt flavor that rounds out well enough but needs more spice or something to add variety. It is a boring beer, the taste lingers on, and my friends and I have trouble finishing this pitcher whenever it is on special. Plenty of things can nourish and warm you, but the trick is in how they do it, not just doing it!