Stone 7th Anniversary Ale

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

Amber, dark, light creamy head and sheet lacing. Piney bouquet of hops in the nose. Some malt backing with a bitter bite. A touch of citrus but the floral qualities stand out the most. Fruity flavors of citrus. Mostly lemon and orange. There is floral and pine hops. Nice malt backing. Creamy palate, thick body, almost syrupy. Finishes strong in the bittering hops and alcohol department. There is also some floral hops accompanying that.

Vibrant orange color with a fluffy white head. Hoppy aroma full of pine sap and citrus. Earthy, slightly toasty malty body and quite a bit of piney hop flavors. Clean, earthy, hoppy finish. I had one when it came out a year ago and it was much more intense. Drink’em if ya got’em!!

Fruity, flowery nose. Like others have noted this is alot like the IPA. I like hoppy beers, but after so many of them it’s easy to get burned out. It would be interesting if Stone made something on the lines of an imperial scottish ale. If anybody could do it, they could. That’s just my opinion on the subject. Overall, this is an o.k. beer from a worthy brewer.

I fear humulus has a point. Those drinkers who have tried a number of Stone’s beers will find this one all too familiar. Loaded with citrus, grapefruit and pine flavors with plenty of pineapple malt sweetness. Mine was not as hoppy as I presume many experienced. A pretty good beer, but it really doesn’t have much more to offer than Stone IPA.

June 15, 2004: Hey, another hopped-up beer that has little else to offer. I get it already, you can make a beer taste like grapefruit and pine sap. Now lets see something that isn’t as easy as throwing in an extra pellet or two, or for god’s sake let’s not consider it craft. My tantrum aside, this is a decent beer. I enjoy hops as much as the next guy, but I often fear hops is being mistaken for quality. This beer was quite hoppy, but subdued with age. The color is that of Pine-sol, head is minimal and the carbonation average. The hops mellows quickly to a malty sweetness then returns bitter and slightly acrid. I thought I detected some complex malt tones and yeasty fruitions, but they were to distant to define. The palate is thickish and multi-layered. The aroma is faint but sweet and tangy. All in all, a fairly good beer. I can’t help but feel its ratings are a bit over-inflated. I often fear that some cling to hops like bud drinkers cling to bland. I envision drinking this in a shack with a gang of "cranked-up" bikers.

This beer is pretty freken awesome, a pale ale with some punch, strong malts make for good alcohol strength and taste. Thick feeling in mouth, very smooth and quite hoppy.

Pours a orange color almost like rust on an old bike. Small white head that leaves some good lacing on the glass. This beers odor has a nice malty character with some fruity hop tones. Thick malty taste starts off this brews personality, but then its bitterside finishes it up. Crazy character that 7th anniversary is.

This one is starting to show its age. In other words, if you have it, drink it. It’s a deep amber with a dense, small head. There’s a slight haze to the beer that gradually clears as it warms. There’s a distinct cookie-like aspect to the malt in the aroma and the flavor and maybe some slight oxidation. The hops are mainly present in the bitterness in the back of the flavor.