Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

bottle at Ft Wayne locals tasting - Pours black with a one finger tan head. It smells of chocolate and dark roast malt. The big roast flavor is wonderfully complemented by the sharp bitterness of the hops and chocolate. it has a medium to full body and finishes with pleasant lingering roast bitterness. Very nice. Stone’s made another winner.

22 oz bottle poured black with a fluffy brown head that diminished quickly. Aromas of roasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate, and booze. Flavor is roasted malt, molasses, and a slight hint of chocolate.

Bomber from GM Liquors; Nose first had a light bit of piney hops, then the chocolate took over; along with toastiness; black with a medium, glass-lacing, cinnamon tan head; flavor is bitter chocolate with some oaty substance in the creamy body; finish is light bitterness.

Bomber. Nose is all about dark chocolate, roast and a little black malt murking through with faint hops and chalk. Pitch black pour with a pretty, dark brown dense and rocky head. Taste is big chocolate black malt and roast, dark and sultry, only lightly bitter (from what was expected) with a little prickling, reasonably well hidden alcohol in the sweet mid-body and a viscous, sludge feel going into the aftertaste. Dry and dark. Big story here is the oatmeal! Swimming in it, great flavor. Prunes and a salty end. Lovely citric hops taking over toward the end [along with a little Fuji apple and red berry], relatively mild but contributing a lot, and not of the normal Stone profile; they’re enough to pull this over a 4.0 for me. Really nice, going to go try it with some cheese, should be great.

Bottled. Pitch black with a small to medium brown head. Quite malty with notes of chocolate, hops, grain, hops and a hint of ashtray - also a bit vinous. Quite nice and well balanced.

Pours Black! Aroma is slight coffee, not much chocolate slight hop aroma, smokey. The head is light brown and creamy, mostly diminishing with a little lacing. The initial flavor is bitter chocolate lasting on the back of the tongue, a little alcohol burn in the stomach. The body is medium, the texture creamy. I loved the 11th anniversary and this is right up there, I have a few in the cellar but I’ll be getting more of these to drink now.

Bomber. Pours slightly viscous black with a very small dark tan head. Aroma is nicely balanced between roast malt (coffee and bitter chocolate) and sweet dark malt (dark fruits, molasses). Flavor is sweet dark malts up front, with the promised bittersweet chocolate throughout (but not overdone), and a lingering finish with some earthy hops. The oats make the mouthfeel nice and velvety and are noticeable in the long finish. Despite all those words it’s a fairly straightforward combination of a sweeter dark-fruit-heavy imperial stout, the bitter chocolate, and the oatmeal stout character. If you like those styles, this is a great beer.

Jet black pour with dark brown head and lace. Burnt chocolate and coffee on the nose. A rich sweet chocolate flavor on the front followed by a hint of abv. A light bitter finish. Very smooth creamy mouthfeel with good carbonation as well. A very special beer with a bitter that grows on you after the deed.