Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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

Poured a nice black creamy color.Notes of chocolate, vanilla and malts.Flavor was creamy and chocolatey with some nice roastiness.Finished off bitter sweet.

(bottle - 22 oz) Dark black pour with a thin tan head. Aroma is surprisingly light with a decent amount of roasted and burnt malts, some dark fruits, and some sweetness. Almost like a combination of caramel and cream. Flavor begins lightly sweet but then the chocolate takes over. Lightly bittersweet with a mild roasted middle. Finishes lightly bitter and fruity. Oatmeal adds a nice creamy texture to the beer.

Cocoa, biscuit and cookie dough in the aroma with some light underlying dark malts and plenty of oatmeal. Opaque, dark brown body is topped by a low, tan head that recedes to a partial cover with some lacing. Biscuity and chocolate malts are quite sweet up front but are quickly joined by a pretty firm bitterness and plenty of dark malt character. Alcohol is quite apparent in the aftertaste. Medium full body with rich texture and fairly strong effervescence. Plenty of alcohol warming. Shaker glass. Approx cellar temperature. Bottle (Hi Time, Aug-08).

Bottle. Rich, slightly smoky bitter dark chocolate. Some dry oak-like character. Oily, viscuous dark brown with a big foamy light brown head that leaves thin splotchy lacing. Dark chocolate dominates up front Finish is burnt toast char, dry and bitter. Slightly foamy, creamy, full bodied with a slight warming bite.

Draft in Boston at the sunset grill with Clark and the gang. Poured deep black with a medium sized tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted chocolate and mild coffee notes. Tastes of a almost burnt chocolate, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, mild oats, finishes a little creamy and dry (I didn’t think that was possible). I enjoyed this.

22 oz bottle. Opaque black in color with a medium sized light brown head. Aroma: chocolate, licorice, and tobacco, and alcohol, mild roast. Taste on this is still a bit green, roast, chocolate, licorice, molasses, a moderate amount of alcohol and oats. All the characteristics of a good RIS are there, they just don’t seem to integrate well yet. Moderate roasty and hoppy bitter finish. Full bodied, medium-full for the style. Good, and should get alot better with age.

Bomber. Thick and chewy, completely coating my tongue. It has been awhile since I had Stone RIS, and if memory serves me, the RIS is a tad better than this. The chocolate is faint and bitter. I think I anticipated more chocolate flavors. I have 2 more that I will store for awhile and see what changes in the beer.

Pours black with dark brown head. Aroma of roasted malts, molasses, bitter chocolate, and slight nutty-wheaty notes. Flavor is roasty and chocolatey with a nice bit of vanilla and malted chocolate ball notes, its boldness tempered with the oatmeal. Lingering bitterness in the finish with slight oak notes. Alcohol is still fairly present even after six months of aging. Nice full, creamy palate, though slightly sticky. A good impy, but not a great one.