Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Bottle from the Coop in Davis, CA. It is indeed a black pour with a 2-finger tan/brown head. Aroma is primarily chocolate over dark roasted, not burnt, malt. Full bodied with chewy carbonation. Flavor is a touch of heat, dark roasted malt, coffee, and some chocolate bitter. Very well integrated. The hop doesn’t stand out until things have pretty well gone down. Guess that’s a description for the finish. Really outstanding. Great nose.

Got the last bottle at Mustard Seed on Route 18 in Montrose Ohio. Pour is a thick black with a dark brown head. Aroma is really dry, it warms up to some subtle chocolate bits and a little bit of...oatmeal? Flavor is amazing. Its well balanced between bittersweet chocolate and the smoothness of an oatmeal stout. Thankfully this has a minimal hop profile, keeping the meat and potatoes of the beer- the chocolate and oatmeal- right in the front lines of flavor. The dryness of the beer really makes this amazing. Smooth, sweet, bitter, dry, rich. Just delicious. Too bad this was the last bottle I have seen anywhere.

1/2 pint from tap at Bodega; pleasant aroma, solid flavor, strong bitter aftertaste on first sip, fades with subsequent sips; I’m a stout fan, and this was a treat

What a beer. First off, its hard to believe this thing is a 9.2% ABV. If I didnt know better, I would think Arrogant Bastard had more alcohol. Anyway, its got a strong chocolate flavor, but without being overly sweet or gimmicky. Its got the complexity and the roasted malt flavor of an imperial stout, but without the harshness that usually comes with the style. Very enjoyable.

22 oz. brown bomber bottle. Poured out a deep chocolate brown. Aromas are of Devil’s food chocolate crumb cake, Scharffen Berger Dark Cacao bars, some alcohol. Flavors are definitely Scharffen Berger chocolate. I’ll wager that’s what they used in it. Mouthfeel is somewhat rough, not as smooth as an oatmeal stout should be. Plenty of malts round out this beast of a beer. Background flavor of yeast, probably an English strain. Decent stout overall though.

Bottle and served in my Stone IRS snifter: Near opaque with a creamy but fading head and very good lacing. The aroma has notes of bittersweet chocolate, oats, rye, charred and toasty malt, some fig and pear esters, coffee and flowery vapours. The taste starts chocolaty with a nice counter of hop/coffee bitterness. Some dark fruit and lactic twang adds depth of palate. A bit ashy and tannic on the finish. The mouth feel has a rich oily character balanced out by some alcohol. A very nicely done beer, Cheerio Stone.

bottle from columbus. damn, i guess my rating from yesterday didnt get saved. so i have to do it again. it was pitch dark and thick, thin dark brown head with nice lacing. smelled like chocolate, nuts and vanilla. flavor was weird, at times chalky but usually very creamy. smooth, thick. hides the alcohol really well. great beer.

From the bottle. poured black with a med. sized brown head. Aroma, coffe with lots of sugar and cream , chocolate and raosted malts with a nice hint of alcohol, molasses, raisins. Flavor, got the bitter chocolate, malts a touch of sweetness and dark fruits, as it warms a little honey comes out