Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

On tap at Zeno’s Pub - State College. Aroma is really subdued, in light cocoa dust and dutch chocolate liquer. Pours a deep brown black with a darker than expected brown head, lacy. Flavor is good. Dense, cool cream sugar carries a bit of 60% Ecuadorian single estate cocoa bean, melded with plain sugars. Minimal caramel character. A very clean, cool chocolate sugar, blended with clean alcohols, a really bright fresh Northern Brewer hop presence. Hmm. I actually wouldn’t have guessed that this was an Imperial Stout. Strong and somewhat sugary, but surprisingly drinkable. Carbonation lays low. Hop character is really juicy and fresh. Bright. Not bad. Clean flavors, mild, and balanced. Maybe a little lean on the flavor profile for an Impy. Also, when you put Bitter Chocolate in the title, it makes me think I’m going to be sinking my teeth into a fresh bar of good chocolate, so when the character doesn’t begin to approach that feeling, I feel a little let down. Nothing I’d run to.

Bottle from secret santa, summer of 08. Thanks! Pours black with a tan lace. Nose is sugar, alcohol ,chocolate, light roast, raisins and coffee. Flavor is similar with a light smokey character and a very astringent and bitter finish. This beer was hard to drink at times and I poured out the last 1/3 of the bottle. It was very sad.

22 oz. bomber picked up at Woodmans in Madison, WI. Pour is dark black with a thin tan head. Very nice aroma of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, cocoa. Easy drinking for the strength here. Silky smooth palate, rich, with a bitter finish. Unlike a lot of Stone’s beers, I do not detect a ton of hops used here. Not my favorite Stone beer, but not bad by any means.

SIlkscreened 22-oz bottle. Motor oil black, with a viscous look. Chocolate head. Smoky alcohol fumes. Cocoa (very bitter) undertones with some coffee bean action. Thicky oily feel; roasted espresso plus cocoa. Silky smooth. A dessert sipper. I enjoyed it.

22 oz bottle; july release. Pours a deep black. The first layer of head is a lasting and fine caramel colored ring with a crown of creamy white superfine head. Smoke and alcohol dominate the aroma but it also includes roasted malts and sweet coffee liquor. The bitterness is more than expected and very welcome for a stout. This is no doubt from the rich cacoa that dominates initial taste. This is followed by a medium bitterness and a long, very pleasant, smoked coffee finish. My expectations from a stone are relatively high and this did not dosappoint. An excellent desert in itself.

Pours a dark dark brown with a thin dark tan head. Aroma of chocolate and roasted coffee. Bitter finish.

Great, complex beer. It has a woody-roasty aroma. The flavor is well balanced and has a roast flavor, not too much sweetness. Great to sip on.

Pours a very dark chocolate fudge brown with a small brown head. Aroma of semi-sweet chocolate and roasted coffee beans. Taste is well balanced, only a small chocolate sweetness at first with a likewise smooth roasted flavor settling in with a sweet coffee finish. Finish lingers nicely with a little dry bitterness as well. A little plain and low keyed.