Stone 8th Anniversary Ale

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

8th anniversary: August 2004. Paid $6.25 for a 22oz bottle that I’m drinking out of my 22-oz sampling tulip glass. Pours dark brown, with a small, but frothy tan head. Not that impressive of a smell: sweet malty aroma, but it’s not earthshattering, or even that strong. Flavor is thick and rich: has liquor accents utop sweet malts, with a hint of a licorice flavor. Good, but doesn’t stand out as that "special" special beer.

a little too jaw shattering for me. i have been away from the hefty beers for too long if this was too much for me. i doubt thats the case. but i wasn’t blown away; just satisfied with stone’s naturally good brew-diesels.

Bottled. Red/brown colour. Small head. Caramelly, raisiny, roastmalty aroma. Chocolatey, caramelly, coffeish, sugary taste. A medium hoppy finish. Actually a really nice beer, reminded me a bit of their imperial stout with some of the taste impressions, especially that maple-syrupness that I´ve read about here. I think it´s a pretty accurate description. Very nice. Thanks to saarlander for this one.

Crystal clear reddish-brown beauty with nice head that hangs around for a while. First impression was similar to a barleywine although not as slick or syrupy. Nice balance of hops and malt, with roasted malt and nutty sweetness winning out in the end.

Poured into a Levitation glass a cloudy dark caramel brown with a medium tan head. Nice roasted malt aroma with some earthy hops. Flavor is full-mild hops for Stone with a nice full malt backbone. Lopping the beer in my mouth I can taste burnt toast like PJK33 below and as it subsides, a mild bourbon alcohol flavor develops. A very nice beer.

Medium sized tan head, fair retention with a long draping lace that hangs around. Clear, brown/red hued color. Lightly sweet malt nose with a pleasent fruitiness. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel. A surprisingly malty brew, nutty, fruity with decent caramel notes. Light citrus, grassy notes balance out the malts nicely. Finish is dry with light alc. notes. Not sure bout the oak chips though? A nice big brown ale IMHO. Well done! Happy Birthday Stone!

Bottle, 22 oz. Pours a really dark amber, like a strong ale should. Not what I expected (I thought this one was going to be another strong pale ale like I really believe last year’s to be). No head at all, just like English strong ales are. Nose is really, really sweet malty, with no hop aroma at all. Almost a toffee and burnt toast aroma. Here we go.... strong and sweet taste with a cool bitter finish, loads of caramel and toffee along with a light espresso taste that only shows up if you don’t lift the glass again within 5 seconds (this is not an easy task as it is tasty as hell!). I don’t taste the oak and bourbon as much which is good for me. I don’t need either in a beer (see my Weyerbacher Insanity rate for more on this) and this one does well to not proclaim any whiskey in its nose or flavor. This is yet another solid submission from the Stone crew. I only wish that I had someone to share this with. My wife is asleep and she would gag (no taste whatsoever... she likes Miller Lite). I guess I need to buy another and invite my brother over...

Served in a bottle, this ale is reddish-brown, almost purplish color. Light head and slightly cloudy. Malty, although not too much with a nutty aftertaste. Not as bitter as I expected, and actually quite good.