Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

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

22oz bottle. Poured a deep reddish brown color with a very large sized off white head. Aromas of pine, floral hoppiness, caramel, and citrus. Tastes of caramel, toffee, pine, citrus, floral, with some toasted nuttiness. Medium alcohol burn in the finish.

Very woodsy smell of hops right up front. Hop bitterness with every sip and as you drink the alcohol starts to take its toll. This is a serious IPA. Very Stone styled.

22oz bottle from south bay. thanks joey....pours a somewhat muddles dark reddish toffee brown with an enticing frothy and moderately creamy light beige head ...sticky sweet grapefruit and citrusy hops with a considerable caramel malt presence that works cohesively....... creamy smooth texture with pronounced grapefruit hops but very little astringency. again, heavy caramel malt presence to provide balance. really nice and drinkable.

On tap. Courtesy of DrBill. Beautiful warm reddish brown with a creamy, beige head. Fantastic spicy aroma hops in the nose. Full-bodied with a very solid malt base of roasted malts, burned caramel and nuts. Intensely perfumy aroma hops in the finish. Very delicious. 070709

Very malty, hoppy, sweet, deep. bitter. not an IPA, not a Stout, Not a barleywine. Interesting. However, a typical over the top brew from stone.

From a 22oz Bottle. Mostly transparent, deep ruby cherrywood colored body with a thin layer of small bubbled tan foam. Aromas of thick caramel and a subtle toasted malt quality, supplemented by a vigorously resinous hop aroma with a strong alcohol presence. Very piney and pithy. Medium full bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a thick, chewy texture. Lots of caramel malt flavors up front on the palate, making it sweet and thick, but also deep in terms of a slight toasty quality. The hop bitterness quickly starts to merge in to "balance" the malt sweetness, but the hop flavors are so strong and bitter I feel like I should be picking hop matter from my teeth. While this could be interpreted as a good thing in some cases, it’s not here, as the only real descriptor I can find is harsh. Or perhaps brash would work too. Grapefruit skins (not zest) and pine needles. This hop assault gives way to a scorching alcohol presence that further enhances the perception of bitterness. Way too thick and crystally for my tastes, and the hop and alcohol characters render this bottle undrinkable to my palate after the first two ounces. I will give this credit for being a clean, well executed beer in terms of what it’s trying to be, but this recipe doesn’t work for me.

Let this one sit for a month. Picked up at Greens Ponce De Leon. 22 oz. I am a bit intoxicated right now, but I feel that with time and patience I will be able to properly rate this beer. Nice fluffy head. Nice dark brown color with a slight red hue; lovely looking beer. Very pungent hop aroma. Also, a nice sweet malt aroma, but this is very subtle. Hop aroma is the dominating aroma. Lovely aroma. This beer has a strong alcohol taste, but also a nice bittering hop that just dominates your palate. This, to me, is an amped up version of the Arrogant Bastard. The malt is nice but offers very little. The hops are awesome and this ASA is amazing. Great job Stone.

Draft. At Cole’s, Buffalo. Very dark amber, clear, nice tan head. Simple, lush, resin/cedar hop aroma, plenty of roast malt. The taste - same, intense conifer/resin bitterness, moderate alcohol, scorched caramel malt - aggressive, oh so good - I was very disappointed no bottles, I will be buying several. VERY lively mouthfeel, a real interplay of deep roast and fresh pungent pine/cedar hoppiness in the long linger - solid. Very, very solid.