Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Draught. Poured deepest brown with sandy head. Aroma of chocolate and alcohol. Strong sweet chocolate taste with alcohol. Tasted like cough syrup. faint finish, more chocolate. I honestly did not like this, and I have liked everything else I’ve ever had from stone.

***review from March 12, 2009***
Schinkenspeck!!!!!� This is the aroma. I just ate this stuff. Don’t agree? Go and some at your deli and get some and eat it - it is this smell. Behind this German cured bacon smell that I love there isn’t too much more to note aside from some slight citrus hops - very slight, some chocolate. This is very, very disappointing especially considering that it was the finishing beer of the tasting tonight - Mikkeller Jackie Brown demolished this mess (yes, it is not a comparable beer). I like the cured bacon taste (it’s taking forever to edit my brutal drunk type, I’ve pretty much mispelled every word), some oak or wood of some srot. k. fuck this. im done editing my shtitty durnk typing. I miss the sweetness of an oatmeal stout - why ruin this with the 9.2%? it doesnt make any sense. Why cannot you celebrate with a GOOD beer instread of having to make theseover the top beers ever time?. YEa, I getit. you make wacky beers. Well, this time, I’m not down with it. There is morechocolate now and still l a lingering biterness that finally i am asssoccieating with the chocoate. yea, im fairly fcked up but stil i am not enjoying this bere at all. sorry brad, this beer pretty much rots.Full bodied, oily . odd bitter finish. Can I admi t ot wasting money on a Sone beer? Yes. Yes I can. This beer is a piece of shit. Congrats on failure. ’d ove to give this a loower mark - and I should , but still it’s gt o some appealing qualities. However, this is, for me, a highly disappointing beer - a reciepie hat has failed miserablablin my eyes. THIS IS A WASTE OF MONEY. Crap beer. did they taste this before and did they assure tehmselves that they were proud to call this the Anniverasry beer? For me, th first STone failure - and such a colossal failure it is. Are you scared to give a Stone beer a bad mark? Are they reading these reviews and if you give them a positive review, are they going go give you free stuff? Open your eyes already. Really deserve a lower mark as a sub as a Impy Stout if not lower.

black body, dark and lasting tan head; cocoa definitely, fruits like fig (i did indeed note some dark fruits), some spice (anise or licorice that is light), and certainly the noticeable alcohol; basically creamy, bitter, salty, somewhat burnt, yet ironically smooth; yeah, i like it... but, meh.

Pours opaque black into the glass, with a deep chocolate head that builds with initial froth, then diminishes to a thin cap that leaves soapy lace. Perfect baker’s/dark/semi-sweet chocolate notes to the nose, with some hints at roasted malts and processed beef (with jerk spices?). The flavor is very nice... Roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, cocoa, tiny esters, with a hint of peppering alcohol. Finishes medium-dry, with hints of dark esters and roasted cocoa. There is a slight lingering bitterness to close the pull. Very well integrated and deeply complex in its oily-creamy, yet simple mouthfeel. This is a darn good brew... rich, but not overt. Very nice offering from one of the best brewers in America.

Bottle courtesy of Ibrew2or3. Pours pitch black. Booze, fig, dark cherry, malt sweetness. Flavor is charred malt, over-ripe cherry, marachino cherries, coffee and roasted malts. Very nice!

On tap at the Parish Publick House in Santa Cruz. Totally black with bright brown foam that leaves sheets of lace. Aroma is roasty with baker’s chocolate and some dark fruitiness. Flavor is off the charts roasty with just enough body and sweetness to keep it from charring the tongue. Similar to dark chocolate-infused coffee. Very smooth and creamy, no trace of the 9.2% abv. This beer toes the line between stout and imperial stout nicely. Another top notch Stone beer.

10.06.08 22 shared with AdamSkillin. More great stuff from Stone. Dark with an almost brown head. Very powerful and sleek.

Bottle. Pours inky black with a think tan colored head. Aroma is predominantly alcohol, with some chocolate and roast notes poking through. Flavor is again predominantly alcohol with some slight hints of chocolate, roast, coffee. Palate is full bodied, medium carbonation, finished extremely bitter. I did not care for this at all in its current state, perhaps some age will work wonders for this. I do not care much for RIS fresh either. Somewhat of a disappointment.