Stone 8th Anniversary Ale

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

22. Thanks, Foolish_Mortal! This one truly aged like a champ. Pours thick grainy dark brown. Dense moussy tan head that falls quickly away to a slim rim of foam, but it’s amazing after three and a half years that it popped up as forcefully as it did. Rich, sherry-like oxidation notes on the nose, without too much for company, but they smell so good it doesn’t matter a bit. Thick and creamy body. Mid-palate is soft and velvety. Rich raisins, dates, and sherry mark the quaff. Some nice resiny bitterness dancing across the mid-palate and into the finish. Not overpopulated with different flavor notes, but it still has complexity and subtlety within that spare palate. Fantastic stuff that’s drinking beautifully right now.

Deep amber color with a short lived ivory head. Not much in the nose; some dried fruit and alcohol as it warms. Big beer with noticable woody/vanilla notes on top of the caramel/toffee sweetness and dried fruit. The beer has the rounded oxidized taste that benefits an older beer, until it gets too powerful. The alcohol is present and accounted for, and makes this a little tougher to drink towards the bottom of the bottle. Still, a nice American strong.

From a bottle thanks to Lacey--2004 beer drank in 2007--Poured a shining copper-mahogany hue with a nicely retained (considering age) off-white tan head. Nose of sweet fruity malts and robust floral and piny malts. Earthy, oaky, caramel-tinged notes. Sweet, toffee, sticky flavor. Finished bold and bitter with a molasses and caramel feel. Very well preserved beer!

Shared bottle with TChrome – thanks Tad. Clear copper pour with an off-white, smallish head. Aroma is mostly sweet maltyness, backed-up with caramel, dark fruits, vanilla, and some light oak – very complex nose. Mouthfeel is just a touch sticky, carbonation is moderate. Toffee-like flavor with some roastiness and sweet dried fruit. I never tasted this beer fresh, so I don’t have a comparison, but I can say that the aged version is very nice.

I never got to try this one fresh so I cannot comment on that I have recently found a stash of thes and they are great. Man they fly off my trading shelf, people just want more. Very dark with not much head. Super rich malty body with some bitterness but mostly dark fruits and molasses. Strong alcohol presence. I love this one.

Pours a very dark ruby brown with almost no head to see. Nose is caramel, pine tar, and nutty. Flavor is still there, though the alcohol seems to be peeking out quite a bit. Nuts at the start and as an aftertaste as well. It really hits stronger after a few seconds longer. Most lasting palate experience that I can remember off of just one sip. Feel is thick, almost syrupy. Drinkable for sure. Masterfully crafted and seems to still have life left. Never had it fresh, but this seems pretty good without knowing the difference.

Date: 09/23/2004
Mode: Bottle
Source: Liquid Solutions

dark brown with ruby edges, scant head that quickly disapates, rich roasted malt aroma with fruity undertones, rich malt flavor with a long bitter finish, upon warming lots of rich and chewey chocolate character comes through and the bitter finish begins to deminish

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Score: **+/4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Dark amber in colour, thin wispy off-white coloured head, light lacing. The aroma is more malty than hoppy, some smoke, caramel, light cardboard. The flavour was a bit disappointing, some oxidization, smokiness continues, some sweet caramel malts, bready light rye. Lightly bitter mouthfeel, medium/light body, medium carbonation. Finishes light, some caramel sweetness. This is starting to show signs of oxidization. You can really tell that the base beer is a mild.

650ml bottle obtained in a trade with <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>Sven, thanks Steven.
Opened on April 21, 2007.
Vintage 2004.