Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

nice dark chocolate, sweet oatmeal, very well balanced. roasty malt and chocolate produce a very drinkable stout.

650mL Bottle. Pours pure black with lasting tan lacing. Aroma of dark chocolate and roasted coffee. Body is thick, sweetness balances the bitter chocolate, and cherry notes. Alcohol is well hidden. Nice beer.

Bottle. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a roasted malty bitter dark chocolate aroma with some hints of coffee. smooth roasted malty bitter chocolate flavor. Has a warming roasted malty bitter chocolate finish with some bitterness in the aftertaste.

6th August 2008. On tap at GBBF. Sweet woody beer. Sticky chocolate coffee malt that is never bitter and then a porty warm finish.

Pours a dark black color with a thick tan head that floated nicely on top of the liquid beer. the nose was extremely robust and full of chocolate malt and roasted barley. You can smell the floral resin hops nicely. As you sip on it there is intense chocolate and coffee that hit your palate and stick to the sides of your mouth. There is some smokey oak flavor but it is very minute. The roasted barley is very overpowering. Overall it has a great appearance, carbonation, and balanced flavor.

Totally black pour, lots of thick creamy head...great bitterness from the roasted chocholate malts and coffee undertones...great mouthfeel

Man, it sure does look just right, colorwise. Totally jet-black, no light can pierce it, liquid. Quite minimal head with minimal retention and minimal lacing, to match. This hurts it, scorewise. Smell of big dark chocolate and big roasted malts. Hints of smoke, leather and vanilla. Big espresso presence. Light dark fruit notes. Huge roasted malts and toasted oatmeal. Dark, dark chocolate, like 80 or 85% dark. Hints of vanilla and dark cherries. Notes of espresso flavor mixed with brown sugar/molasses. Medium to full body. Nice and thick, though I think it could stand to be a little bit thicker. Verging on being oily, though, and that’s good. The 9.2% abv gives a very pleasant warming effect. As much as I love this one, it would probably be abit overwelming to drink on a regular basis. As an anniversary beer, though, it serves it’s purpose excellently. Just tasty enough to leave you wanting more, but knowing that you probably couldn’t handle too much more, even if it were still around.

Pours pitch black and completely opaque with a 2 finger frothy chocolate/coffee-colored head that slowly settles into a lasting cap that leaves chunks of lacing behind. Bitter dark chocolate aroma with lots of roasted/toasted malt notes, oatmeal, roasted coffee bean and candy sugar. There is a lot going on here and hopefully the flavor lives up to the aroma. Deep roasted full body with lots of sweet bitter dark chocolate, roasted coffee bean, oatmeal, burnt toast and toffee. All of this dark roasty character is nicely balanced by the sweetness of the dark chocolate and a bit of candy sugar. There is also a slight dark fruit presence and a subtle nut character. Very well balanced with well masked alcohol make this complex beer pretty drinkable. Recommended!