Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Bomber. Pours tar, tan head. Aroma is chocolate, anise, smoke, coffee, pine, molasses, Flavor is the same with emphasis on smoke. The mouth feel is very oily. I’m not super impressed. This is good, but not great.

bomber from G&G, poured into a snifter. pours thick, jet black, and leaves a thin chocolate brown head atop the glass. aroma is complex with hints of coffee, vanilla bean, roasty malt, and some hops peaking through. flavor is wonderful, as expected from a stone special release. starts out like a good stout, with flavors of expresso and dark roasted malt. the sweet/bitterness of the dark chocolate comes in after the swallow joining the slight warmth of the alcohol. there are also subtle hints of vanilla, toffee, and some hop bitterness. overall, another great anniversary beer from stone that is surely to get better with aging.

Bottle. Aroma has notes of espresso, chocolate, roasted malts, and some sweet fruitiness. Very dark brown that looks black in the glass. Smaller than average tan head that left some lace and mostly diminished. Flavor is sweet, creamy and finishes very bitter. Palate is oily soft and full bodied. Was hoping for something much different. I think this brew was good in theory but lacks big time in reality.

22oz. bomber. Black in color with a medium sized tan head. Aroma of dark roasted malts(a bit of a burnt smell), bittersweet chocolate and an odd solvent-like aroma that was a turn off. Flavor was mildly sweet and quite bitter chocolate, roasted malts, dark fruits with the alcohol becoming more and more present as it warms. Not really to my tastes.

22oz bottle from toncatcher. thank you sir.... black pour with reddish brown edges, pretty thin medium brown head....ashy, dusty milk chocolateand roasted malt aroma..... bitterroasted chocolate for the majority with a decent amount of bitterness and alcohol warmth on the backend. still just a bit young and needs to mellow out some.

22ozbomber. Pour is black with a lacy off white head. Aromas of hops, coco, and roasted malt. Flavor is chocolate, malt, and some alcohol with a bitter finish. This one is way too thin to be called a stout. Good but not too impressed. Sounds better than it is.

From a 22 oz bottle, this poured poured like old motor oil into my Duvel Glass and was a very dark brown (almost black) with very thick tan head and very sticky lacing. Nose is coffee, chocolate,and ripe figs. Mouthfeel is very full bodied. Flavor is very rich with chocolate and ripe fruit and some alcohol.In the finish you detect for the first time a tiny bit of hops in the slight bitterness. This is simply a great beer.

Bottle, 22oz. A next to black beer looking clear, with a small tan head on top. Hoppy dustyness, chocolate, cocoa and bitter chocolate in the aroma. The flavor followes the same pattern, with chocolate bitterness and some alcohol added. Full-bodied and warm on the palate. The finish is lasting, with chocolate the most evident flavor, but there’s also a little coffee touch. Yet another nice Stone. Would be interesting with more evident hops. Maybe. (080811)