Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Draft: Poured a black color with not much head. The aroma was roasted dark chocolate. The flavor was dark chocolate malt and roasted toffee. This is definatly a sipping beer. One that get finer as it warms and I’m sure even better with age. Great beer!

22. This is yet another damn fine impy. No, it doesn’t revolutionize the style, nor does it show you a lot you haven’t seen before. They’re really out front with the whole cookie thing, hoping to stand out, but, facts are facts: if you like big overbearing impies, you’ll like this one. If not, not. The undecideds are a pretty small percentage of the drinking populace at this stage of the campaign.
Pours jet baclk with a dense, moussy, but short-lived burnt-tan head. Nice chocolatey sweet roasty nose. Creamy, goopy body not far off the consistency of chocolate chips oozing out of the cookie fresh from the oven. Then again, most big impies boast that consistency, so no extra points there or anything. Roast, baking chocolate, some ashy charcoal and sharp hop bitterness at the end. A fairly simple mid-palate, actually, with a dry and softly lingering finish.
I’m definitely not tired of impies yet. This one’s right on the spot for autumn drinking.

The bottle poured thick and dark chocolate brown, no light coming through, with slight tan head. Nice roasted aroma riding on sweet chocolate and alcohol. It tastes like dessert. Chocolatey and lactic, it’s a bit oily, sticks to the tongue, with low carb. DELICIOUS! REALLY! Eat it!

bottle. thick like oil but not too sweet. no head. full body but dry. smooth licorice flavors. alcohol is present but not unpleasant. low level carbonation, prickles through the huge malt profile. slightly bitter. pleasant i.s.

10.06.08 22 shared with AdamSkillin. More great stuff from Stone. Dark with an almost brown head. Very powerful and sleek.

Real dark out of the bottle. The sourness surprises me, waves of milk chocolate, a line between bitter and sour, the alcohol. That chocolate-alcohol aroma of kahlua, implying coffee as well, bottom roast. The foam is a beautiful color but quick. Very clean finish.

Quite black w/ dark brown head. Aroma is unimpressive and very light; strawberry; very little indication of chocolate or roasted malts. Palate is very very smooth, with a little carbonation/alcohol kick in the finish. Flavor is a little more like one would expect but still odd. The oatmeal makes it weird. Definite light fruitiness-more strawberries going along with the alcohol in a not so pleasing fashion. It finishes about how one would expect though with a lot of rich dark chocolate and a good moderately dry bitterness. Probably would be better, but less intriguing without the oatmeal. Could be good with some age on it as well.

Oily black pour with nice tan head. The head dies quickly, but leaves some nice lacing. The aroma is boozy, with some chocolate, dark fruits and burnt malts. The flavor is kind of bizarre. First bitter burnt malt, then a strange cherry/plum fruit flavor, then the chocolate hits making for an excellent bitter finish. The palate is the standout aspect of this beer. Awesome, thick, chewy. Almost like drinking a bowl of oatmeal prepared with an imperial stout instead of water. Interesting, complex, but a little disappointing. The palate alone however makes this beer worth the price of admission.