Stone 7th Anniversary Ale

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

9th September 2009. Cloudy brown beer. Smooth and soft to start rapidly followed by some aggressive hops. Finishes with a sweet undertone revelaing itself - caramelly port. Better when not to cold from the fridge.

Ohio tasting
buffalohead brought along this which we tasted side by side with the recent 13th Anniversary. This has held up suprisingly well for six years; I was expecting a total mess by now instead of a beer that simply is almost hopless.

Aroma / Appearance - The malts have taken over leaving very little of what must have been hops at the start. The age was evident by the slight flatness and the way that everything mixed together.

Flavor / Palate - Drinking like a barleywine or old ale that has lost all hops it was smooth for the most part with an orangy malt aftertaste. Not totally flat there was a trace amount of carbonation even after all this time. If you have one I would not wait any longer; if you happen across it I would probably pass unless you like beer that is past its prime. Either way thanks Jeff!

22 oz bottle. Consumed 09/11/09. Aroma is still pretty malty, hop aroma is almost non-existent. Pours a slightly cloudy orange color with no real head to it. Still has a pretty decent amount of carbonation. I will rate it *slightly* higher than I probably would have - mostly due to any inconsistencies existing partially due to the age of the beer. But I can certainly see its strengths.

Lots of malt in here, some hops still showing through. Has a bit of alcohol showing through. Certianly past its prime but cool to try none-the-less.

Bottle at RnH Drink for Charity. Thanks to everyone who brought great beer to this. Cloudy orange with head. Fruity syrupy aroma. Very sweet orangy flavor. NIce bosy and carbo.

Bottle shared by eyedrinkale at "Drink for Charity" event at Rattle N Hum. Deep amber beer with a lot of chewy sweetness. Some sweet fruitiness and some heavy, almost clunky malty sweetness. More stickiness on the back. Still isn’t all that good.

Bottle shared by EDA as part of a complete vertical. This was a mess, and has not aged gracefully at all. Thankfully this was the last heavily oxidized hoppy beer I had to drink that day. Wet, soggy, cat piss aroma has some redeeming notes of licorice/anise. Orangey flavor, with a complete lack of character and personality. Considering the different ages, I’d say this is the worst ager of all the Stone anniversary beers.

Stone 7th anniversary. Bottle at the “Drink for Charity” event at Rattle & Hum thanks to Mike who brought a vertical from 2nd to 12th. Pours a hazy orange with a thin white head. No hops left. Old prune and plum aromas, and old malt. A little better than the 2nd through the 5th, but still I’d imagine nothing like the beer it once was.