Stone 9th Anniversary Ale

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

First, a tasty beer. Since it has no real category, I can’t really take points off for that I suppose... The wheat aspect of it is hidden, so it comes across as a hoppy pale ale. Very delicious, but what is wheaty about it? It compares to Gumball Head in every way. The hop flavors are different, but otherwise it is a hoppy American wheat beer. Not yeasty, but hoppy.

I went to the doctor a few weeks back and he told me I am going to die. Of course I am; everyone does eventually die after all. I was also told that my Liver Enzymes were elevated and needed to be evaluated. The solution: drink no alcohol for 1 month and get re-tested. Me being the good patient that I am, I complied. The re-test results came back and my Liver Enzymes were even more elevated than before (alcohol 1 = medicine 0). Segueing back into a normal alcohol consumption schedule for 3 weeks and then getting a 2nd re-test lent much better results, normal Liver Enzymes(alcohol 2 = medicine 0)! However, while laying off the bottle I lost 10 pounds (alcohol 2 = medicine 1). Thus in the end, according to my specious argument, alcohol is better than medicine by a 2 to 1 margin for what ails you.

Oh yeah the beer, I almost forgot it has been so long. Stone 9th. Another “imperialized” beer, this time a wheat. The pour is quite nice, clear golden-amber with a lovely lacey white head. The aroma is dripping with piney hops and faint nutty wheat. The flavor is marred in a rather serious way by a staggering amount of alcohol flavor. Not warming but medicinal, and if there is one thing you will have learned by now it is that alcohol beats medicine: what does this say about medicinal alcohol? That is left as an exercise to the reader. Smells and looks better than it tastes.

from a bottle.caramel pour with a sticky grey head. floral and pine dance in my nose. oh the visions. if only this wasn’t a bad anniverary personally, but fuck it. i’ll enjoy it anyway. lime scent mingles with the hops in a glorious dance. wow this bastard is hoppy. really bites my tongue, but pain is good today. more lime with strong grapefruit flavor too. there is some sweetness on the ass end that tries to balance this monster out, but fails. i can not taste anything wheat like, but i could just be a jackass. lingering pepper and dandelion flavor in the finish, but the hops keep going. i’m going to lay one down and see what happens in about a year or so.

Sampled at Falling Rock during GABF. Poured from a Firkin at high red wine temp. Hazy yellow orange with small suspended particles with a minimal but lingering head. The aroma was floral and citrusy. Generally light. The flavor had key limes, grapefruit, wheat, caramel, a light sweetness and a pine bitter finish. Body was syrupy and overall heavy. This was good, but I’m wondering if wasn’t served too warm.



Bottle sample. Re-rated at a cooler temp. Better take on the aroma this time around with sweet wheat, caramel and citrus (orange). Nothing new to note with appearance. Enjoyed the falvor at a cooler temp. though I made the same flavor notes. I did increase my flavor and score one point.

My favorite of Stone’s Anniversary brews. This one tastes like a double IPA, my favorite style. A true hop lover’s dream with a very floral nose and a strong presence of citrusy flavored hops. An explosion of hops, beautiful light amber color and certainly not one-dimensional. There is certainly a body there as well. Very interesting that it is a wheat.

Tried again and gave the exact same rating. Dark gold and orange body. The head is fluffy and white. The aroma is righ with flowers, orange peels and prunes. There is a nice hops presence here. There is also an herbal quality that is hard to pin down. The taste is nice and rich orange peels with some old toffee candy. There is also a hint of dry hay that comes in after the initial fruit sweetness. I like this one a lot and imagine it would smooth out nicely with a little age.

Big, fruity aroma. Hazy dark gold in color with a huge head! I used a tulip glass which really seemed to blow up the head, but I give credit mostly to the beer itself. Clumps of carbonation rise from the bottom like Alka Seltzer. Whispy lace. Large Belgian-like bubble with beautiful lace. Initial mouthfeel is highly alcoholic. This brew does not hide the 7.8% at all. Pepper, saffron. Very nice flavor. Seems a little bit like the alcohol was thrown at the beer to make it more impressive, but I couldn’t detect any flaws that were trying to be hidden. Could have been smoother but as it warms this really becomes delicious. Really excellent. Thanks, tennisjoel, for bringing this back with you from San Fran.

22oz bomber pours golden with a very nice 2 inch fluffy white head that stays well and laces very well too. Aroma is floral. Like walking through a meadow of blooming flowers and coming to a grapefruit tree and plucking the ripest one from it’s branches.. Hops abound in the aroma. Flavor is a delicious blend of nice earthy malts, yeast, some pepper spice, a bit of molasses, some caramel, a bit of raisin, all attempting to break through the thick layer of grapefruit bitter hops. So many flavors makes this one complex brew and makes it even more amazing that the palate is so smooth and mouthcoating. Carbonated just right to give this a pleasant mouthfeel. No sign of the alcohol all the way to the bottom of this bottle. Beautiful the way the hops blend with the malts in harmonic fashion. I can only compare this to Gumballhead, but I really think that this is more complex, robust, and smooth.