Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Bottle. Pours a good black color with a fairly good tan head. A good coco to the nose and roasted malt. Flavors are real good with the chocolate Wonderful oat flavors too. Pretty creamy mouth. Very relaxing beer for a wind down to a busy day. I wish I picked up more to age. I willl have to keep my eyes out. Resampled (12-31-08). Growler from Stone. Pours a midnight creamy black with a towering thick dark dark cream head. Same roasted malts and coco nose. Also a subtle hop note on the nose. Roasted coffee, dark chocolate flavors. Mouth is creamy with a bitter dry finish. Alcohol is a bit much as it pulls away from the rest of the flavors.

22oz bottle. This is one black beer! Nice semi-sweet chocolate in the aroma with a nice infusion of roasted grain. Very full aroma. I was worried that this would be too sweet and overly heavy based on the aroma but I was pleasantly surprised. Semi-sweet chocolate is well integrated with roasted grains and creamy milky note. Nothing is overpowering and everything is very well matched together. Creamy mouth feel that is very round. A great job on this one.

nose of oats and general sweetness, no sign of 9%+. flavor delivers little in terms of typical oatmeal stout flavor and huge bitterness, but without any real hop character. just generalized puckering bitterness. as it begins to breathe nose develops notes of the same bitterness which begin to overwhelm the oats and all else in its wake. flavor begins to present a burnt note, oats are gone now and sucked into black hole of hops. did you ever try to make chocolate milk from pure unsweetened baking cocoa when you were a kid? its kind of like that.

Pitch black color. Very dark brown head. Dark chocolate, brown sugar, burnt raisins and treacles in the nose. Amazing. Very strong treacles, dark fruit, rich mocca mouth with a surprsingly amount of bitterness. Perfectly bitter light mocca finish. WOW. this is an amazing beer.

Thin dark brown head which does not last long. Super fine bubbles with minimal carbonation. Rich, malty aroma with some chocolate, roasted malts, just a touch of coffee and some vinuous notes. Red grapes and such. Color is black as midnight. Flavor is super smooth and balanced. Not overwelmingly thick and chewy but kind of slick. Lots of roasted grains and bitter chocolate. Noticable alcohol presence that warms the body. Rich and meaty and pretty complex. Very easy drinking for such a big beer. Finishes sweet and malty with a hint of smoke and roasted grains. A damn fine impy!

This beer pours dark. Very dark. The head is a nice coffee color and is relatively fluffy. This beer smells of roasty malts, chocolate, and coffee. There might be a hint of a fruity scent somewhere in the back. The first taste is relatively sweet and chocolaty, but that is followed very quickly by a bitter taste that has a fruity nature to it. You can really feel the bitterness on the back sides of the tongue. This beer is thick but not heavy. The flavor is very strong, but it is pretty easy to drink. A good beer to drink on a cold day in front of the fire.

aroma is lovely with roastiness, coffee, and a vinous presense, almost like a red wine. poured like used moter oil, with an abundane of tan head. Flavor was really great, lots of dark chocholat, espresso, bitter, with touches of alcohol. very full bodied. A great impy.

22oz - Light roasted malt on nose. it was the pour that really caught my attention. Like used motor oil, totally opaque. just lovely with an earthy aroma and viscous head. Roasted malt, chocolate maybe but more like a coffee. Luscious.