Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

I received this bottle from my roommate over 1 year ago on my birthday. FIgured it was time to open it up, since I heard it is drinking great. The pour is slightly golden/red with a sizeable, slightly off white head. Smell is pretty strong, I notice a nice compliment of both hops and malts on this one. The smell is almost candy like, very sweet and sugary smelling. I notice a bit of citrus in there, with some dark fruits as well. THe compliment each other very well. Taste is very smooth, with just a nice amount of cabonation, even for its age. I notice a great amount of that raisin or plum flavor. The mouthfeel is nice and silky. As I continue to sip, I notice just a bit of hop profile hitting my tongue. The hops begin to overpower the dark fruit and there is a good amount of earthiness. What started as sweet in the first few sips is now coming forth with an aggressive hop flavor. This seems good, but I am glad I drank it now, I think it’s heading past it’s prime.

I dont see wheat here, from the 22oz bottle with around 1.5 years on it, but i do see a faded IPA/ Barleywine combo with some mix of hops with a very distinct sweetness pretty thick stuff, but im glad i waited til now to drink it.

Pours amber with a whie haed. Aroma very subtle with pine and bread, and malt. Surprising ly good

22 oz bottle from Leopoldstoch(thanks!). Ok, this is a 2 year old bottle, Pours a hazy amber with a large chunky head. Not sure what this is supposed to be, but smells like a barleywine. Tastes like one too. Starts with some sweet heavy malts, a little spiciness (almost ginger-like) and ends with a hop wallop of citrus and earthiness. Body is heavy, carbonation is moderate/high. Alcohol is pretty obvious for only being 7.8 abv, i would have guessed 10% at least...

Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a vibrant golden color with a huge amber-white head. The aroma was strong grapefruit and pine with a sweet and slightly spicy finish. The flavor was sweet, tangy, grapefruity and had a hint of spicy hops underneath. There was a mild hoppy finish.

A white ring of foam on top of a cloudy orange body. Nice soft mouthfeel, soft in a cotton-candy melts-in-your-mouth kind of way. Body is filled with soft slightly roasted malts. Generously hopped with aromatic hops providing only a light bitterness. Grapefruits and citrus flavours abound. No alcohol presence at all. The whole beer feels very soft and ends-up being highly drinkable. Its lack of punch will turn down many lovers of in-your-face beers but I for one could drink bottles after bottles of that stuff without ever getting sick of it. If all 9th anniversaries were that wonderful all 3rd graders would be riding new bikes.

On tap at Stone. Caramel and cirus aroma. Bread-like taste transitioning to caramel sweetness and finishing with a dry slightly bitter roastiness.

Very good ale, piney. However, i prefer the levitation double hopped ale to this. Cant wait to hit stone up this weekend!!