Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

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

Not sure how this never was rated. I have the 2 empty bottles in my bottle collection from some time ago. Pours out a reddish color with a lager tan head. Aroma is big on hops as I have come to expect from most Stone beers. Flavor is rather bitter at first but the malt takes over with a lasting resin finish.

Bottle. Pours mahogany with a creamy beige head. Great aroma of pine hops, caramel, toffee and floral notes. The flavour has a hint of roast with caramel, toffee, fruit and pine. Nicely balanced between the sweet and bitter aspects and the abv is well hidden. Big fruity hop finish. Good stuff. Thanks Jonno for sharing.

Murky caramel brown with a fluffy tan head and a sheet of wavy lace. Aroma of west coast resinous hops, bready malt, caramel… balanced enough. Taste is pretty damn good with those west coast resinous hops and a plethora of sweet caramel malt to balance the ledger. Mild dark fruit and alcohol creep in and there’s some minor warming on the back end along with a tasty heavy bitter finish. One of the better Stones.

From bottle@RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. A yellow shaded tan head upon a reddish brown body. Resinous and citrus-fruity hop aroma with berry notes and a touch of mould. A fresh caramelly scent to balance. Strong, lightly spiced malt body. Bold earthy and resinous bitterness. Medium to full body. Warming mouthfeel. Lasting bitterness in the ending.

Consumed 9-12-09......brown with some red highlights...dark tan head...sour hoppy aroma--as it sits more malt shows up...alcohol apparent in nose and mouth....it seems a bit unbalanced in the hop vs. malt dept.--lots of grapefruit and heavy bitter hops....triskaidekaphobia (fear of the #13).....the hops are floral and lovely--good--simple and piney...but not all that for me right now...I will re-visit

This one was impressive. Similar to the arrogant bastard but with what seemed to be a more intense hop profile. Very good and very worthy.

It poured a very dark amber liquid with a small light brown foam that left some lacing. It had a smell of wood, caramell, malt, hops, something sweet and an alcoholic finnish. It had a medium smooth mouthfeel with a bit of sting to it. It had a medium body and a high bitterness. It had a sweet taste and a flavour of hops, wood, nuts and an alcoholic finnish. Quite strong and full taste, also a bit dry. Really nice, I sure enjoyed this beer.

Bottle:   Rusty amber, deep, dark, coppery hues, moderate to large frothy light beige head, moderate lacing.   Big piney nose, musty citrus peel, hot hops.   Burns the nose a bit.   Fiery, warming, certainly hoppy but not over the top.   A little unbalanced in that the malts aren’t anywhere close to carry the hoppiness.   Thankfully its not overly bitter, but its a little biting.   Yeah, this is not quite the IIPA I was thinking it would be.   I don’t know if Stone knows how to do a hefty IIPA that isn’t lopsided in favor of hops.   I will say its not absolutely biting, so that I am thankful, but beefing up the malts on this would make it such a better beer.   Body and mouthfeel are, you guessed it, average.   Mild for an IIPA.   Damnit, I wanted more body out of this, more malt sweetness to back the citrusy hops.   It does have a bit of sweetness, but its a little acidic.   Bottleworks has Dicks IIPA on tap... I think I need one by the end of the week to cheer me up.   Over-rated.