Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

Lightly hazed golden amber color with a larger bubbly Dark cream head. Fresh green hops aromas, that remind me that I have to pick my batch of Mt. Hood this weekend. A light sweet dough aroma in the background, but still green grassy fields in front. Some hints of floral and sweet fruit perfumes as it warms. Dry sharp flavors collide in the mouth. Presence of wheat noticeable, but quite faint. I like the idea, but the concept does not seem to work here. Not enough body and malt flavors to back up the hops juice burning through the tongue. I’m not sure this will get better, because of the perceived lack of malt depth, but at least the hops should mellow and perhaps meld better with time. Thanks JohnnyFlake for the brews the second will likely be a rerate in a few months.

Pour is deep golden yellow with some amber highlights and a nice dense pretty tan head...smells like a Stone beer...dry hoppy warmth...there is something else there that I can’t put my finger on though...light citrus notes...spiced lemon peel...taste is dry and alcoholic and hoppy...where’s the wheat?...dry and hoppy all the way through where a hint of sweetness comes out after all the hop nonsense...alcoholic sweetness...tastes like a Stone too...

Lemon, resiny hops, wheat, fruits - strawberry & more. A bit of alcohol and spice too. Slightly cloudy gold with a craggy head. Resiny hops with odd corriander spicing. Medium/light toasted malt. Slightly astringent wheaty belgian w. American hop finish. Great heavy mouthfeel - not over carbonated. Interesting but I won’t get it again.

22 oz capped bottle, sampled October 2005: golden tangerine with an off tan, billowing and fluffy foam. Soft, almost buttery hop aroma, with a good load of resin, pine and bittersweet honey...enjoyable for me – not too powerful and extremely fresh. Strongly bitter flavour, without the alcohol twinge I was expecting…Sweet, sticky pine on the palate, with woody notes on the back of the tongue, along with yellow cake, resiny alcohol, and floral hops.

65 cl bottle. Tasted during trip to California. Yeast in bottom. Amber unclear colour with a fast disappearing head. Very nice fruity aroma, hints of sweetness. A very hoppy flavour that ends some warm from the alcohol. Little yeasty and dry to the end.

22 oz. bottle from September 2005. A clear golden honey pour with a smallish light-tan head that leaves lots of lace. The aroma is almost equal parts wheaty and hoppy. Quite floral and tangy. I smell lots of oranges, strawberries, bananas and lemons. A whiff of alcohol is apparent when I reach the bottom of the glass. Very perfumed too. Tastes like an APA crossed with a strong American wheat. There’s a wheaty dryness to this medium-bodied beer. Just light enough to still be refreshing. Remarkably fresh and herbaceous. Tart and fruity with a peppery and spicy finish. I really like this one. VERY tasty.

750 ml bottle-pours a white head with clear gold color. Aroma is hops. Taste is a too sharp/biting hops, creamy. rerate-Taste is rich, hoppy this time.

22 oz bottle date 9/05. Pours a yellow-orange with a big fluffy white head that lasts forever and laces the glass. The second pour from the bomber some yeast floaties.

The aroma is caramel malts with floral, grapefruity, piney hops. It’s awesome at first (9), but as it warms it becomes more floral, peppery and medicinal.

The flavor is sweet malts followed by a large but rather subdued floral/grassy hop bitterness with notes of melon. As it warms, peppery medicinal alcohol comes out. The mouthfeel is smooth and velvety with a sticky bitterness.

Overall, it tastes like a decent mellow IPA. It reminds me some of Rogue’s Brutal Bitter. As I go through the bomber, I like it less and less.