Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Formerly brewed at Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Escondido, California USA

Bitter, chocolate, oatmeal? Indeed. Smooth and creamy, with DARK chocolate coming through. Alcohol is well-hidden (well, fo the style.) A delicious beer.

Bottle... Poured black with a brown head. Oaky aroma with roasted malts. A little bit of alcohol flavors and roasted oats and grains before a coffee-like finish.

22 oz. bottle, consumed on 4-12-2009. Sweet aroma of chocolate and brownies. Pleasant but forgettable smell. Pours a dark brown with a dark amber hue, some effervescence, and a small amount of dark tan head. Charred, bitter, tarry taste. Plum, black cherry, and chocolate flavors. Alcohol taste evident. Long, bitter aftertaste. Full body. Rich, perhaps overly so. Oily in the palate.

Bottle. My sense is that this one needs to lay down for 2-3 years, and the flavors seem to need to round out a bit and the hops to fade, allowing the complexity to come out. I say this particularly having rated the beer fresh and now after some time to age, with the aged version the better. Notes of semi-sweet chocolate mesh with oatmeal and cocoa nibs. Tar and mild smoke contribute to the dominant note and acidity of an Ethiopian blend coffee. The mouthfeel and texture of the beer is impressive. Perhaps what is lacking right now will be made up for with more time in the cellar. This beer would have made more sense to me as a Vertical release than a part of the Anniversary series.

Bottle split with Andy and Pwn3d. Pours pitch black body. Aroma is mild chocolate. No oatmeal in flavor, all coffee.

pours black as night with scant light brown head. Aroma is not as strong as with other beers of similar alcohol but is some chocolate maltiness on the nose. Very nice smooth creamy taste. The chocolate is subtle in flavour (the balance of the bitterness of the chocolate is offset but some sweetness of the oatmeal. Great mouthfeel. Alcohol not noticeable at all. Overall an impressive brew that I would like to try again.

This was extremely good. Nice bitter, roasted malt flavor with some smoke, oatmeal, dark chocolate, and bitter espresso with a bitter but almost creamy-smooth mouthfeel. Wish this was a year-round beer. YUM.

Bottle from canals in mt.holly. Split with DeputyAndy and JRedmond. Pours black with tan head.. very inviting. Tastes similair to a russian imperial stout but with more cocoa. Good but would prefer a southern tier blackwater series.