Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Bottle. Aroma of semi-dark chocolate, charred cracker, sweet and alcoholic raisin and anise. Flavor has a sweet characteristic likely derivative of the oatmeal, bitter chocolate. Bitter chocolate turns to a bitter finish. Very full-bodied, a chalkiness attempts to keep heaviness and cloying sweetness at bay. Still, though, as the glass goes down, it just gets harder and harder to drink. Not as bad as their regular imperial stout fresh, but a very similar heaviness nonetheless. A beer that would have scored very well had I had a 2-oz. sample, but with 11 oz. in front of me...tasty but hard to get through. Put it in the cellar with the Imperial Russian Stouts.

22 oz bomber purchased from J. Barleycorns in Nashville. Poured a deep black color with a one fingerl brown head. The aroma was caramel, coffee and roasted malt. The flavor was caramel, coffee, oats and roasted malt, with a bit of bitter chocolate present. This was a great beer, and I hope to try this again in about a year.

22 oz. bottle - pours oily black with a thick tan head that fades quickly; roasty aromas hit first with a touch of smoke; as expected, much more bitter than sweet; chocolate comes out more in the flavors than the aromas; quite hot, strong and syrupy; a strong impy for sure, just not the most flavorful as it is a little overwhelmed at the moment; decent and hope it gets better

Another awesome stout from Stone. Not quite as intense as their Imperial Stout, but very well-done. Pours black with a small beige head. Aroma is sweet roasted malt and bitter chocolate. Lots of dark chocolate on the taste with some coffee and roasted malt. Dangerously drinkable - I feel like I could down a gallon of this stuff (but would regret it as it came back up). Really smooth and fairly full palate.

Strong roastedness and bitter bakers chocolate are prominent, dark cocoa powder surfaces in aroma, rich and pleasing, seems to lose its legs as it warms,taste is certainly dark bitter chocolate,seem to get the impression of dark chocolate frosting sweetness at first ,but that bitterness is just to overwhelming,oatmeal use must be minimal,as it doesn’t have that oatmeal slickness,some alchol definitely noticeable,a very fine chocolate stout,very worthy of being an Anniversary brew. Thanks Kingpin

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle. Hugely thick oily black pour. Roast and chocolate, fat coffee bean aroma; maple and molasses and baking chocolate. Firmly bitter and sweet. Flavor brings a feathery but pungent herbal mint quality and a heavy, soapy patent black bitterness that together would seem to achieve a fair feat of astringency, although this graciously never occurs. Somewhat simple. Malt character is a bit wet and cardboard-textured; flavors of graham crackers, dark roasted coffee, vanilla granola, and semisweet chocolate. The herbal sensation lingers and lends a cooling, lightly acidic touch through the mouth and nostrils. Smooth texture, in a full palate; oily, and rich, but still quite bitter, which tends to make it seem obese and simply overstuffed; little balance in the malt character ultimately. Some maple sweetness lends a comfortable richness in the finish, with a bit of doughy sugar. Passable; there’s too much darkness in the beer and not enough softness. Thanks Bob!

Poured a nice black creamy color.Notes of chocolate, vanilla and malts.Flavor was creamy and chocolatey with some nice roastiness.Finished off bitter sweet.

Straight black pour, thick reddish tan head that settles to the rim of the glass. Aroma of hot chocolate, bakers chocolate, sharpie, and a bit of lactose sweetness. Sweet dark chocolate taste. It’s creamy with a bitter hop and bitter chocolate bite. Good balance. Nice mouthfeel with bitter finish with some alcohol. I’ve been looking forward to trying this for a while and it didn’t disappoint. In fact, I’m going to pick up some more of this and cellar it.