Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

Lucid translucency and polished copper-orange in color with a creamy, bubbly white head and a lacey/doily wrung around the edges. Aroma is intense. Honey, nectarines, basted maple, nectary apple fig neutons, apple butter, candied apricots and caramelized wheat. Certainly has no lack of originality. Caramelized bitterness sweeps in and leaves honey dipped willow wheat in its wake. Melding honey glazes meander between the smacking action of the tongue to mouth. Honeydew and nectar drizzles underlie the persuasive background sweetness. Rough spun sweet rolls and sourdough combo. Creamy vanilla blossoms sweetly serenade the backend while a thick, tight viscosity preoccupies the palate. Sweet wheat, honey and caramelized malts stand up to the American hop brigade. Finish is a bittersweet symphony at its most dramatic maturation. Butterscotch tones and a spicy flair from the hop activity collide with caramel drizzles along sweetened oat flakes, and then it’s sprinkled with a couple crumbled hop pellets as an ever lasting signature. Licking the chops post mortem brings out salty, baked rye sourdough pretzels. It’s a West Coast IPA cut loose in the prairie lands (not that I’m trying to define it; I’m just trying to wrap my mouth around it.)

An immediate hop aroma. Pours a deep gold with just a tinge of orange and a ncie white fluffy head. A bittersweet taste of caramelly malt and hops. A sweet almost thick palate. A damn fine bitter end that grows.

(bottle) Orange gold, a bit hazy, with large fluffy cream head. Floral hops aroma. Flavor is floral/pine hops with some sweetness, yeast and fruit. The love child of an agressive imperial IPA and a wheat beer.

A solid four across the board. Poured, smelled, and tasted just like a dIPA, although slightly more yellow and less orange-amberish than many from that style. The aroma was malty, yeasty, and resinous. The flavor was malty sweet with some grapefruits and resin flavors coming through. Nice slightly pine-like hoppy finish. Mouthfeel was moderately bodied and the alcohol didn’t overwhelm (wasn’t hidden, though).

Clear light amber body. Frothy off-whtie head; sticky lacing. Aroma has Flavor has some IPA caramelly malt, some bittering hop edge, sweet spicy yeast and flowers give it a very light belgian feel. Perfumed honey wheat sweetness. Very rounded, crisp, good beer.

Robe dorée surmontée d’une mousse blanche qui persiste. Arômes de houblon résineux, de diacétyle et de malt caramélisé. Saveurs de malt caramélisé, d’alcool, de houblon résineux et de levure.

Strong wheaty, earthy aroma. Pours blonde-golden with small-to-moderate head. Very tastey, with strong overtones of floral and bitter hops. Nie malty balance, with caramel smoothness. Really delicious.

Decent sized white head of fine bubbles. Good carbonation. Nice hoppy aroma with a bit of iced tea in there. Little bit of sweetness. Color is a medium golden orange. Little sweet and very hoppy as is the norm for many stone brews. Little bit of sopme strange vegetable in there also. Slick oily finish with a big helping of hops and a lingering bitterness. Only slightly dry. Decent and not overly sweet or unsettling.