Stone 7th Anniversary Ale

Formerly brewed at Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

Bottle at Moan and Dove. Cloudy golden white head. Aged fruity sweet aroma, a ittle oxidized, for sure. Smooth malty fruity flavor. Good hop bitteress. Oxidation noted.

Pours a slightly hazy red/orange color, no head. Aroma is similar to a barleywine, lots of sweet malt, cherries, orange, and some roasted toffee, cinnamon in the finish as well. Flavor is sweet and malty, lots of fruits and nuts round out the complex flavor. Palate is full and smooth, very pleasurable. VERY nice brew!

I had been saving this one for a while and is probably past it’s prime, but it is still pretty good! Pours a clouded copper to amber color and makes a very thick offwhite head. Aromatics are mostly of buttery toffee. The flavor follows the suit of the smell, rich buttery toffee and caramel malt, moderate bitterness up front. Very subdued hops from the aging of this one but there is a tiny presence of orange zest hiding in the background. Alcohol bite is rather noticable. Mouthfeel is medium to full, thick, creamy and leaves a very sticky coating on the throat. Too strong to be a session drinker and too aged for the style to really grab my attention, however it is still fairly enjoyable.

Hazy reddish orange. Thin and sparse white head with good sticky lacing. Nice moderately sweet hoppy aroma... hops seem slightly leathery. Sweetness in the aroma is in the form of fresh citrus fruit... oranges, grapefruit. A nice mix of excellently balanced flavors. Not too powerful, but just enough flavor. Malt and grapefruit hops with zested grapefruit and orange rind. Delicate mouthfeel. I don’t know... I don’t follow the Arrogant/Double Bastard bandwagon. Give me more 7th! Reminds me quite a bit of the Stone 4th, just a little bit fresher. Update, 9/26/2006 - Shared my last bottle. Still quite nice, but not as good as I remember. Hops may have died down a bit more and turned into very slight astringent hints. Still, glad I kept this one around and glad I could share it!

Light copper color with a smaller off white head. Earthy toasted malt along with very aromatic hops for the age. Full and smooth feel. Lots of sweet malt and balance by sharp citric hops balance. Lingers long with lots of malt again. A typical brew from Stone. Lots of malt, lots of hops, lots of good drinkin.

I love all Stone Ales, but this one probably the least. I had it on tap at the 7th Anniversary Open House and in bottle. Color was ok, and although the palate was nice - it is rather smooth for such a hoppy brew - I was a little confused by the combination of citrus and caramel. I think I tried it on cask, although I cannot be sure. I did a mixed taster with this and IPA, and that was yummy. My friends loved it more than I, so I think it will be more popular with some people than others.

Bottle, 22oz, enjoyed with Chuck and Carrie at Kaya in the Pittsburgh strip district. Pours an amber hazy beautiful looking beer. Stone does it well, methinks! Great cascade and fuggle hop aroma with grapefruit, pine and citrus. Head is creamy and big. Great bitter hop flavor with nice balance and spicy bite. Mouthfeel is full, but not creamy, just good. Wonderful ale. I asked to keep the bottle and have used to rebottle my own ales, pale ales, IPA’s and more... none have done the bottle justice. Love the story on the bottle, as always guys. Good beer.

Pours with a nice amber color and toasted malt aroma. It has a nice heavy body with some creamy malt caramel/toffee hints. The most dominant flavor is that of the hops. Hops, and hops and hops. Pine and some grapefruit. I would say that the hops intensify towards the end but that’s what your getting with this beer. Must say I was surprised. I expected this to be a little more mellow and malty after 1.3 years in the bottle. I’ll give it a try again next August when the 9th anniversary comes out. Vertical tasting here I come.



What a difference a year can make, and what am improvement over my old score! I’ve got to believe that my change of heart is due to evolving palet. In any case, I enjoyed this much more this time around (during the 7-9 anniverary (vertical tasting). Nose was much more malty and sweet than I remembered (though there were some oxidized hints). The taste was well integrated hops and malt body. Very enjoyable...if not a bit past its prime. If I can find another bottle of this I will get it (orig score 3.2 - new xcore 3.7).