Stone 8th Anniversary Ale

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

Pours dark brown with thin tan head. Nice roasty aroma which was very pleasing. Nice hop bitterness upfront which settled into a nice roasty bourbonish flavor at finish. The balance is pretty good, it is roasty like a darker brew but maintains a good refreshing quality like an IPA. Not the best i’ve had but still very tasty. The applaud the interesting mix in this brew.

Strange, I thought I rated this when it first came out. Anyways just had a pint at Hollingshead Deli aged one year and it hasnt gotten any better. This beer starts off with a decent roastiness but fades into the finish, ending with a void that just leaves this brew wanting. That along with a weird vegetal mustiness in the nose(due to age?) left this a shadow of the beer it was based on.

great brew. original style. sort of a mix btween a stout and barleywine or something. roasty nose, coffee color, and a pretty nice head too. woody, choclatey, mildly hoppy and very malty and roasty. i drank this with some prime rib medium rare with creamed spinach and mashed pototoes. and it was darn near perfect. um, man, ill scwill this all night. cant wait for the ninth edish.

like a copper vat of liquid caramel, the ’8’ has yellow edges and a heart of sesame-oil rouge. the head quickly self destructs, but for a moment big bubbles winked at me from a creamy yamika of foam the classic khaki color of a london fog raincoat. take a coffee nose, add baker’s chocolate, multiply by crispy toffee, rose water and rum--then add a bit of sweet smelling lemon drop pushing through pine cone sap and finally subtract anything cheap and untoward. got it rainman? that’s right, about a hundred dollars. it’s soft carb descends to almost no carb; but full bodied, with a proliferation of sweet auburn-toasted malts that are part bock, barleywine and robust porter-- they remain potent, fruity sweet, well-roasted, while boasting a nice vibrato of finishing bitterness too. whataya say there, rainman, want to try one? "of course i’m an excellent drinker..."

Pours a deep ruby with a sparse beige head. Aroma of candy sugar, roasty malts and some hops. Flavor is a bit thin and on the alcoholic side. Fruity, toasty, and sweet, with only a mild hop presence. Alcohol is very warming. I’m not all that impressed.

Shiney mahoganey. Thin head, fades to nothing. Nice sweet aroma of dark syrupy berries. Taste is sweet, slightly roasted fruity malt with a gentle hop background. Fades into slight bright coffee-like bitterness with some dry chocolate sweetness in the finish. Pretty good... nothing outstandish.

Bottle. Red with an off white head. Great looking. Aroma is very malty with hints of caramel. Flavor is odd because it reminded me of a stout in some ways without being stout-like in appearance at all. Coffee and caramel dominate the taste. Decent mouthfeel, sorta flat. Very enjoyable, I can’t wait to re-rate after some aging.

Pours brown with almost no head. Sweet brown ale taste with a decent hop kick. I didn’t like this beer at the start but it grew on me. Nutty and hoppy throughout.