Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

22 oz bottle
This has been sitting for a while. After getting through some of my backlog I cracked it open and wish I had gotten to it sooner. I hope this goes into regular rotation or at least stays on the shelves for a few more months. Most people seem to have tried it but if you haven’t snap it up now. it is worth every penny.

Aroma / Appearance - Creamy black liquid curled around the bottom of the glass slowly filling to the top. An oily sheen of head indicated plenty of life as did the nice sheet of clear lacing. Baker’s chocolate, oatmeal, and a tease of prune melded into a very smooth blend with only a hint of the underlying alcohol.

Flavor / Palate - The texture of liquid brownies filled the mouth. Sticking to the tongue and throat it crawled along with an accompanying flavor of almonds and dark chocolate. Smooth and mellow from start to finish this was a great winter warmer. If I had the time and space I would certainly pick up another bottle.

Cask (GBBF 2008) - Dark brown,almost black in colour. Smoky aroma with a hint of coffee. Chocolate and coffee in the taste with some smokes notes. Nice stuff.

Growler from Stone courtesy of Homerwants beer. Pours pitch black with a 1 inch tan head. Aroma is of chocolate, malt and oatmeal. You get a taste of alcohol up front, followed by a smooth coffee and chocolate finish. Tastes pretty much the same as it does out of the bottle. Heard some opinions that it would be much better aged. Testing that theory, but definitely drinkable now.

bottle. black pour with creamy tan head. lacing. roasted malts, chocolate, light fig, alcohol aroma. chocolate, espresso, vanilla. bitter from start and lasts long into finish. moderate carbonation. nice body. very enjoyable.

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.

Bottle from Liquid Solutions. Dark pour with tan head. Roasty aroma; malt, chocolate. Hops up front; quite big. Surprisingly nice bitter chocolate, oatmeal and wheat bread on the back of the palate and the longest finish I’ve had since Expedition. Great aftertaste. Not overly sweet, which is a very good thing in my opinion.

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.

This was extremely good. Nice bitter, roasted malt flavor with some smoke, oatmeal, dark chocolate, and bitter espresso with a bitter but almost creamy-smooth mouthfeel. Wish this was a year-round beer. YUM.