Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

Bottle, 22 oz. I enjoyed this one with my Uncle Don while he visited from Sydney in October 05. It is golden and incredibly hazy with a nice fluffy head. Looks great as the head leaves and a great looking lace remains. Lots of floral quality in the nose, reminds me of Hop Wallop from Victory. Taste also is much like Hop Wallop. Can’t really distinguish the wheat in this one, probably because the yeast is a different strain than most wheat beers. Nice and hoppy, but mostly grassy and floral with a good sweetness that hangs throughout the entire time of drinking. I like it. Better than 8, not as good as 7 I think.

Bottle. Sweet peach/apricot/cherry and hops aroma. Golden orange color with small head. Sweet apricot and bubblegum flavor initially fading into a strong bitter hops finish. Alcohol content apparent but masked by the hops.

Beer pours an attractive apricoat color with a well retained off white colored head. Aroma is delightfully hoppy with a bit of spiciness. Flavor is unique. The initial, enjoyable hop bitterness is followed by a quirky, strong bubblegum flavor that seems a bit over done. There is an enjoyable spiciness that is overwhemed by the bubblegum flavor. Good beer, just not up to the standard Stone set with its 6th and 7th Anniversary beers.

Clear sparkling gold, creamy white head. Not a favorite of mine in the aroma department. Seemed to have a plastic tone early, but thankfully it faded just enough to detect notes of sweet grapefruit, sugared tropical fruit and melon, light pine, with subdued hints of lemongrass. Flavor up front was a boatload of citrus, slightly earthy, with wheat coming out late to dry out the mouth. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, hoppy finish. Stone is one of favorites, but this brew from them unfortunately is not...

Thanks to Killer for this one! Hazy dark yellow body with a loosely constructed frothy head. Fruity pine aroma but one that is distinctly different all the same. Sweet and hoppy, again, different from a Pale Ale or IPA, but hard to describe. An interesting and enjoyable beer. I don’t know how this would age, I think it’s really all out front right now, but I wouldn’t mind drinking a few now while they’re fresh. Another Stone not distributed to Tennessee.

Smells full of fruity sugars and light pine, over sweet pineapple and some mango as well. Very interesting aroma, sharp sweet sugary hops that resemble a gummy-bear scent, along with either a honey or a slight coriander aroma. These hops are goooooood.... overly sweet yes, but still delicious. Frothy, sweet, fresh tasting pine and some fruity clove flavors. Frothy and crisp.

Pours a clear light gold with a nice thick head and great lace. Aroma is citrus and lots of amarillo hops, some light herbal and spicy hops. Flavor is full with lots hops and a bit of wheat in the end for a nice aftertaste. Medium resinous flavor upfront with a good amount of sweet malt. This is an interesting beer, but not something I would want more of. Kind of a let down.

Polished copper color, bright clarity, with a thick, dense, white head that resists all attempts at falling. An intensely sweet, honey-like, crystallized sugar aroma with a faint wisp of cocoa butter and an encompassing Campfire marshmallow...no hops. Flavor starts out with a ton of earthy hops, then acidity creeps in quickly followed by spicy, biting alcohol. The aroma components show themselves in the finish and then only as an afterthought. The body is quite full until the acidity and alcohol kick in. When they do it vanquishes the palate and shows just how dry and unbalanced this beer is. If there was more residual sugar and this had more of its aroma components in the flavor, it would be aewsome. The aroma was velvet and the flavor must have been made for people who have little or no taste buds. But even with that, I believe this one is going to age incredibly well. Once some of the alcohol melds into that tasty malt profile and the hops die down, this should be nice. I will most likely hold onto a few bottles of this for the 12-12-12 tasting.