Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

Pours a slightly hazed amber with a nice creamy, thick head. There’s still a nice fresh hoppiness in this, a mix of spruce and apricots. The flavor isn’t small, but there’s something watery about it. Nicely balanced with good hop character.

12 oz bottle. Pours orange golden in color with a foam white head. Aroma sweet floral hops. Hoppy and malty taste, after 2 years there is a slight alcohol warmness. There is no wheat taste to this beer. A very good ASA.

22oz bomber purchased at Windy City Liquor in El Cajon. Had when it first came out and my palate was not developed and didn’t like it. Shared with my pal David. Pours yellow orange with a stable puffy 2 finger head, off white in color. Nose is light and fresh with a bit of hops not as much as I expected. Taste is hoppy and surprsingly light and not very bitter. Has a full mouth feel though. Good beer overall. Not as good as 10 by any means.

Caramel malt aroma. Clear, golden brown body. Full palate. The taste is mostly caramel with some light hops and a hint of alcohol. Not bad.

Bottle. Yeasty aroma with caramel and light hops. Heavily-carbonated and -sedimented orange-golden body with a creamy, rocky, lacing eggshell head. Dry taste with caramel and lightly bitter toffee, touch of alcohol on the finish with a dry, bitter aftertaste. Medium-full with a semi-crisp feel. Wheat comes through but is eventually buried under musty and somewhat mouldering hops. Not really impressed, sort of a hop-reliant mush of flavors.

Opaque orange, very thin lacing and soapy bubbles. You’d get a bit of head on it only after significant swirling. For something that’s been sitting a while in the cellar, it’s nothing unusual.
Speaking of unusual, the hop signature you usually get from Stone isn’t quite there in this Beer, so it came off as a bit of a surprise. Sure, the citrus and pine were there, but it was way more mellow, there definately had some cheezy element and some kind of corked character that I enjoyed. Another after-effect of the aging process? Perhaps.
Carbonation was just right to leave some room for the malt and to prevent the hops from taking center stage, but obviously they keep the leading role. The pineyness of the hops came out the most, another surprise for me as I’m used to more of a grapefruit finish, and there definately had some yeast action going on as well. It went down wickedly smooth and I enjoyed it. Note to self: keep aging your Stones!

Bottle. Unclear / murky medium particles orange color with a average fizzy fair lacing mostly lasting off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, heavy hoppy flowers / perfume / grapefruit, light yeasty. Initial flavor is moderate sweet, finish flavor is light sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is oily / syrupy, carbonation is soft.

Appearance: Bright golden-orange in color. Partial haze. Good carbonation allows the bubbles to organize a fluffy white head. Smell: Sharply citrus notes yield to a dominating bitter aroma. There’s some contrasting sweet fruitiness, but its got a somewhat sour twang to it. Taste: Predominant floral hop bitterness shadowed by some sour, pear-like flavors. The already sparse malts are squashed by the astringent bitterness. Finish is initially dry, but warmth brings forth some displeasing medicinal qualities. Mouthfeel: Smooth and sleek with a light oiliness. Drinkability: Not overly so, as it was a bit hard to supress myself from grimacing at the end of each swallow. I’m told it takes three times as many muscles to frown as it does to smile. My face is definitely worn out by now. I’ll admit I found last year’s anniversary ale to be infinitely more appealing...