Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Dark color. Smell of dark chocolate, hops, pine, roasted coffee, malt, caramel, dark fruit, alcohol, sugar and cake batter. Taste of chocolate, hops, pine, roasted coffee, malt, caramel, dark fruit, alcohol and brown sugar. Fantastic!

Bomber. Thanks to kegbear for this one. Pours dark brown to black with nice and thick dark tan head. Nose is of roasted malt, oat, bittersweet chocolate, caramel and some dark fruit. Flavor is heavy with roasted malt and bittersweet chocolate. Also has notes of coffee, caramel, oat and some light booze. Nice and silky mouthfeel but not thin. Finishes bitter with some nice alcohol warmth. Nicely done.

The aroma on thi beer is very, VERY chocolate. Some malts, oatmeal and some roasted coffee is evident. Very enticing. The appearance is nearly jet black, with a medium to dark brown head. The flavor very roasty, and has strong notes of oatmeal. Very thick mouthfeel. The palate is left with a nice roastyness, and some lingering hops. Great beer. A little pricey at $8.99 for the bomber, but all beer is so damn expensive anymore.

Bottle. Poured a deep brown/black color with a bubbly quarter-inch tan head that eventually faded to nothing. Aroma of chocolate, some light roasted malts, anise, black licorice, and alcohol. Smooth, sweet entry with a hint of anise and some light roasted maltiness and a bit of chocolate with a light undertone of smoke that finishes with a light bitterness and lingering notes of black licorice. Low carbonation and moderate mouthfeel. The aroma was hard to detect over the alcohol presence, and the flavor was too abrasive to enjoy very much. Hopefully time will smooth this out.

Picked up at Five Points Bottle Shop in Athens. July 2008 bottle. Wow, nice chocolate head. Looks lovely. Without a doubt a fine black looking beer. Nice fluffy chocolate head. Nice bitter chocolate flavor. Honestly, the name is very indicative of the aroma. Coffee in the aroma. Smells like a great stout. A very pungent beer. Alcohol is present. Nice coffee/roast/wood finish. Oats due come through. Very sweet flavor at first and then you get that very nuanced mellow flavor. Nice chocolate roast flavor...one of the best. Great brew. Nice and smooth texture.

Black pour with a tan head. Very heavy almost like a meal in a bottle. Nice bitter chocolate aroma. Very nice flavor. Extremely silky smooth.

THOUGHTS: A great beer. One of the darkest I’ve ever had. It didn’t hide the alcohol, but it isn’t harsh. Stone makes some of the best anniversary ales around. Not super complex, but who cares when simplicity is this good. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured an opaque black with an average, tan head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma was mostly alcohol, heavy mild coffee and lighter dark chocolate. The initial flavor was moderately sweet and lightly acidic and bitter; while the finish was heavily sweet and moderately bitter with and average to long duration. There was coffee, milk chocolate, dark fruit and alcohol. The full body was creamy with fizzy carbonation and a light to moderate alcoholic finish

22 oz. bottle. Pours a delightfully dark tan, almost brown head, which settles into a nice tiny bubbled foamy layer, good attractive lacing, color a lucious blackish brown, through which light does not penetrate....nose of coffee, chocolate malt, chocolate, bit of hop....tastes initially of hops, coffee, chocolate, then on to other layers of roasted, burnt malts, finishing with Stone’s routine lingering bitterness. The mouth feel was absolutely superb. I agree with other comments about the hidden ethanol. It looks a lot like a Gargantuan cup of espresso.