Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Shining, black body under a small, tan head. Inviting aroma of sweet, lightly roasted malts. Very rich flavoured ale with cocoa, vanilla and chocolate up front successfully mixed by late and dried fruits. Lingering smooth bitterness to the aftertaste. Very well bodied with tingling alcohol on the tongue. Wonderful and superb. This ale has got almost everything - maybe except for the oatmeal (my best drink at this year’s GBBF, 06.08.2008).

Pours a near black color with a small white head. Aroma has some chocolate going on but it’s not very strong. Seems very thin. The flavor has some chocolate but not more than your typical big stout and a sweet finish. If this beer is as strong as advertised then they’ve worked some sort of miracle since I can’t detect that this is much stronger than a standard stout. Good stuff but a little thin and simple.

Dark as a moonless night. Big brown head - makes it look like a german chocolate cake. Big roasted malt backbone. Very dry with lots of flaked oatmeal with a very soft presence adding much to the mouthfeel. Soft milk chocolate notes with wisps of dark chocolate. Not very complex for an IS but still a nice drink.

Dark black with a small dark brown head. Aroma of bitter chocolate, roasted malt and alcohol. Flavor starts with roasted malts then a strong alcohol flavor and finishes with dark chocolate.

Bottled. Inky black pour, with a nice brown head that faded quickly, leaving a bit of lace on the glass. The nose was roasty and chocolatey. Flavor was bitter chocolate, roasted, smoky malt, and a nice touch of alcohol underlying it all. The finish was soft, perhaps due to the oatmeal. Dry finish. I really enjoyed this one, and the use of bitter chocolate to replace the extra hops was genius.

Courtesy dragonstout. Pours a really nice looking black body with a foamy tan head that leaves good lacing all around the glass. The aroma is really nice on this one with the bittersweet chocolate coming through, with some cream, and a hint of smoke as well.There is a little bit of roastiness in there, but it’s all chocolate on this one. The flavor follows these same lines with the dark and bittersweet chocolate up front with some cream and roasty bitterness on the backend. Medium-full bodied and creamy mouthfeel and good carbonation lend this to go down very smoothly. The finish is long and roasty with some cocoa sweetness leaving you wanting more. This is really well crafted and great tasting. I need to get some more of this.

Bomber: Aroma of nice sweet chocolate, a decent amount of roasted malt notes, a light backing of something light and fruit, and definite signature Stone big bad hop notes. Appearance is a deep motor oil back pout with a medium sized tan head that lingers for a while. Taste is kind of unique. A bright almost big hoppy note at first then slowly diminishing into a nice bitter sweet chocolate note. Overall, Big bold and nice stout all around.

I gotta say, I was pretty stoked to try this beer, stone is one of my favorite breweries and they never disappoint. I expected this beer to be a little better than it was, but it was still pretty damn good. Pours as black as a beer can be with a decent chocolate brown head that melts to nothing. The aroma is the standard coffee and chocolate, with notes of vanilla, black licorice, and alcohol. The flavour is a pretty good reflection of the aroma, starts off with a a bit of dark coffee, some black licorice in the middle, a subtle note of vanilla bean, and finishes with a strong dark chocolate finish that lasts until you take the next sip. A very satisfying beer, with a nice velvety mouth feel that does the beer justice. Just wish it was a touch more complex. Still a top notch beer from a top notch brewery!