Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

Bottle, shared with Macadem, Cole, and hobbersr. Pours deep reddish brown with a thin off-white head, great lacing. Nose is big hops, plus raisins, figs, caramel, leather. Wonderful balance in the nose, intensely hoppy, but without hiding the other elements of the beer. Flavor is hops and tight acidic malt, nuts, earth, grapefruit, clementines. Damn Tasty!

Pours very dark, thin head. Aroma is very hopy and floral with subtle fruit notes. THe flavour is very hopy and bitter with a fresh citrus finish. Very creamy great carbonation. Really very good.

This beer pours a rich deep amber/very dark brown with a medium tan head leaving some good lacing on the sides. Intense citrus/orange aroma with a little bit of pine. Medium mouthfeel and carbonation. strong orange in the flavor as well as pine, and a little grass maybe all melded with a nice malt backbone that shows up in the finish. This beer really seems to be a conundrum for an American strong ale as you at first think it’s a double IPA from the aroma and initial taste but after drinking, with that great malt backbone, you realize it’s a hoppy American strong ale. Very nicely done!

Intense aroma, intense. Back of the mouth burn. Aftertaste of a little dark fruit with some crazy hops. Nice.

Pours dark brown/red with red highlights and a sizeable creamy beige foam. Aroma initially is very orangey and strong on citrus but that either fades or I get used to it over time. Otherwise, there’s some grapefruit, leaves, caramel, toffee, sweet bread, wood and....books? Changing character. Tastes of caramel, brown sugar, bitter orange and grapefruit, light pine, hint of chocolate, and wood. Finishes sweet and almost dessert-like at first, quickly giving way to a strong toasted, earthy, bitter character with less citrus than expected. Full bodied, creamy, soft carbonation, mild heat, and if you don’t mind a bit of stickiness from the malt, it’s great. Very good beer, and I will gladly drink this while I can, but I can’t help but think Stone could brew this sort of beer in their sleep by now.

Poured from 22 oz. Dark brown with red hue, light tan medium sized head. Nose of hops, malts and spicy wood. Taste was as good as the nose, very well balanced for a high alcohol beer, hoppy but smooth, just the right amount of fruity sweetness.

22oz bottle. i had this a few weeks after its’ release so it was FRESH! pours dark auburn with creamy beige head. nose is caramelly, grapefruit, slight bananas, and citrus. flavors are big piney and grapefruit hops with a healthy dose of caramel malt notes and a slight roast while hops and alcohol dry out the finish. some sips come off as a complete mess while others are tasty in that guilty little pleasure way.

Bottle from Sicilianos, grand rapids, MI about 4months old. Really dark, opaque red brown with large creamy off-white head. Aroma is grapefruit, cardboard, sweet caramel. Flavor is grapefruit, same oxidized malt, cardboard, sweet malt, caramel, toast, very sweet, some alc but not overwhelmingly so. Very creamy, full body. I really want to like this beer as it has a lot of good qualities about it but it is still really unbalanced and oxidized now. Maybe on tap it will be better...