Stone 8th Anniversary Ale

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

Nice caramelly brownish hue, bright apple-red at the foot, and ’round the sides, flush with toasty tan head sitting tidily above. rosy sweetness in the nose, roasty, replete with dark fruits, a touch of spice, plenty of malt, and just a touch of hops...bigger than other browns, but not as forward as you’d expect from Stone...cheers to them for keeping us on our toes. Full, rich, malty flavor on first sip...great presence on the palate, candy-ish, but not to any extreme degree. Flavor is there with every returning swallow, mouthfeel is plentiful, body is full, but not too much so, finish is softly drying, and longish. This is an anniversary brew to trip up some who may second guess Stone’s mission with their expectations. These are those who may not find any delight in a brown ale, no matter how different it may be. "Where are the hops?" I hear them screaming. Not every beer can be an Arrogant Bastard, nor should they be...although the higher alcohol is peeking through, and this brown is showing how different it is in that regard. (BTW, I’m attempting to read the label, and glean the intentions of Stone, sans dictionary...what the hell are they talking about? but I’m good at linguistic guesswork, and I think I can make some kind of sense out of it..."we’re giving you a boozed-up mild ale whether you like it or not", basically...and i was very amused...wonder what an accurate translation would say? What if you transalted it into Klingon and back?) This is a very good beer, just not intended to win the hearts of hop-headed beer-geeks. I had a similar experience last week, when Town Hall’s 7th Anniversary brew wasn’t a hoppy pale like last year, but a bold ESB. And it, too, was very nice, for an interesting twist on the style. So be it!

Opened this bomber in June of 2006. Pours a ruby almost cranberry red and brown depending on how the light was hitting it. Head was bubbly and tan, but went away quickly and just left some traces of a head. Great color, could use better head retention. Aroma was sweet and malty at first. I then started to pick up on some dark fruits, toffee, oak, bourbon and vanilla. It seemed like a year and a half of age has brought out the vanilla and oak characteristics a bit more. Flavor also had a good bit going on with roasty/toasty malts up front, followed by some caramel sweetness and a light bitter hop bite to close it out.

Poured brownish with off white head. Aroma of sweet maltiness, toffee and a whiff of hops. The taste is dominated by a couple layer of malt: sweet, roasty, biscuit like and maple syrup. A certain fruitiness and hop bitterness rounded out the flavor for me.

"Thanks doulos31 for this one. Poured a dark brown withalmost no head or lacing. Aroma was a funky caramel mostly and some nuttyness to it. Flavor was overwelmed by caramel, as it warmed i did get some chocolate and nuttyness. Not the best from stone by far but okay. "

Thanks to doulos31 for this one. However, this was the biggest miss I’ve ever had by Stone. In fact, take away the label, and this beer is nothing. The pour yielded no head and no lacing with a red-brown color. The aroma was a sour caramel, nothing else. The flavor was semi-sour caramel mostly with light chocolate mixed in. Light touch of coffee as it warmed. An annoying diacetyl/buttery type touch was present throughout. Hoppy finish with light pine present. The mouthfeel was the lowest part of the experience, just like water, kinda nasty. Not a very enjoyable beer for me.

Read the thread from ODeed and took the advice when I realized I had one of these laying around. Pours a muddy burgundy body with a medium sized khaki head. Complex aroma of dark fruits, hops, chocolate. Full bodied. Some good bitter hops with nice roasted sweet malts also. Smooth chocolate finish. This beer was all over the place, but very tasty.

Poured a medium amber body with a nice beige head. Aroma is toasted malts with a lot of somewhat earthy hops. Flavor is very hoppy without being very bitter. Huge vanilla malts round out the beer well but I think being two years old really mellowed the hops. Still overall an awesome brew.

I really enjoyed this ASA. Nice hop character and good background flavor. Not hoppy for the sake of being hoppy.